Storm Takes a Heavy Tree Toll

Cover Image

Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Two hundred calls poured into the city of Buffalo's 311 line early Friday morning to report trees down or heavy tree damage.  

"Our city crews have been out all night," said Mayor Byron Brown at a briefing at city hall.  "They will continue to clean up all day as well as tomorrow." The Mayor acknowledging that 40 streets in the city were blocked at some point during the night.  

The intense wind storm brought down trees, limbs and power lines.  

"We have all of our teams in North Buffalo," said Jeremy Heim, owner of AJ's Tree Service.  "That seems to be the area of the city that is most affected." 

Pair of large trees down on Woodward between Florence and W Oakwood in Parkside neighborhood. @NewsRadio930 pic.twitter.com/RaYbxoCYej

— Christopher Parker (@Bulldogwgr) November 1, 2019

Because the ground was so saturated from Thursday's record rains (1.4 inches), shallow rooted trees were most vulnerable. But Heim says they're seeing both pines and hardwoods impacted by this storm. 

"I'm on a residential street in North Buffalo right now where a fallen spruce tree hit a garage," said Heim.  He said typically saturated soils and 50 + mph winds are a recipe for disaster for pines.  But with this storm, it's a mixture of both hardwood and spruce trees.  

City Public Works Commssioner Mike Finn said tree issues that are unrelated to down power lines can be reported to Buffalo's 3-1-1 office. Work orders are sent directly to the forestry division. Finn said the focus for the remainder of the day is to clean up and open up roadways.