Severe Weather Tips – Hazardous Trees Near Your Home

“We encourage people to look at their trees at least once a year, and again after a severe weather event,” said Todd Matthews, Urban and Community Forestry Coordinator. “You can see trees starting to lean, cavities in the tree, cracks that open up, dead or torn limbs…most people can spot things like that. If you see issues like this, you need to call a professional to remedy the problem.”

To avoid potential injury or property damage, here are a few safety tips for trees near your home:

Engage in regular inspections of trees around your home

• Check trees at least once/ year (especially after major severe weather event)
• Contact a Certified Arborist for questions and further assistance
• If you hire someone to take down a tree or remove a limb make sure they are licensed and bonded – the removal of large trees or limbs near your home and family is a very serious matter. Make sure you are dealing with a reputable professional.

Professional arborists know the options for safely reducing/ eliminating potential hazards near your home:

• Move potential “targets” (something that could be damaged by the tree or limb if it fell)
• Restrict access to the area
• Prune limbs of the tree *
• Remove the tree completely *

*Don’t try these by yourself; enlist the help of a professional.

Mississippi has 19.8 million forested acres – 77% of that acreage is privately owned. The State of Mississippi benefits from forestry, which contributes $12.79 billion to the state’s economy, over $20 million (on average) toward education through School Trust Land timber sale revenue, and employs almost 70,000 people.

Resources:

Mississippi Forestry Commission Website – www.mfc.ms.gov
Click here to visit the MFC on Facebook
Click here to visit the MFC on Twitter

For an informational video, visit: www.bit.ly/HomeownerTrees