Sacramento prepares for atmospheric river after last year's storms brought down 1,500 trees
SACRAMENTO — There are over one million trees in Sacramento, the city monitors about 100,000 of them. The city's Department of Public Works is out preparing as an atmospheric river is set to begin impacting the area on Wednesday.
"We have teams of certified arborists who go out and they're doing the tree pruning, they're doing the inspections to make sure that every tree is looked at in our inventory," said Gabby Miller with the City of Sacramento.
The city lost more than 1,500 trees during last year's storms.
"I feel like last year was unprecedented, we had 90-mile-per-hour winds. We don't generally get that up here," said Scott Shaw, owner of Fair Oaks Arbosrist. "I know that this week we're forecasted to get 40-45 miles per hour winds, which is still strong enough to blow trees over."
City officials say safety is a top priority.
"Obviously, trees are beloved by the people of Sacramento, but we need to do the work to make sure everyone's lives are protected," Miller said.
The city removed a large tree at 26th and W streets Tuesday ahead of the storm due to decay, but Miller said this is something they do daily.
"To make sure that the health of the trees are up to shape and there's not any decaying trees or any limbs that need to be removed so that when we get storms coming up, that those trees don't fall and hit the roads or people's houses," she said.
Shaw explained that conifer trees, like redwoods or pines, have shallower root systems, and when the soil gets saturated with rain water combined with wind, they could be uprooted.
"Your house is your safe haven. The roof isn't strong enough to hold a 20,000-pound tree coming through it," he said.
Shaw added that it's a good rule of thumb to have an arborist evaluate your trees once a year.
The city wants to remind everyone to make sure storm drains are clear of leaves and debris ahead of the storm but that things aren't expected to be quite as damaging.
"Nothing to the extent of what we saw last year. Actually, right now, at this time of the year, most of our leaves have fallen which makes them less heavy," Miller said.
If you're concerned about any trees in your neighborhood, the best way to report it is through 311.