KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Arborists and tree trimmers have had a busy few days after a sudden burst of high wind and storms led to downed trees and broken branches across a group of neighborhoods south of the Plaza in Kansas City.
Though the damage was largely focused in a few neighborhoods, arborists say it's a reminder of why you should be getting your trees checked now, ahead of the next storm.
Steve Strauss with Kingdom Tree pointed back to the last few months where we've had several strong storms with high winds.
He says that likely caused stress fractures in many trees - but they finally snapped in Tuesday's brief but high winds.
“It’s been a really busy storm season this year. And we had some excessive winds early on in the spring ... And so there were stress fractures that were caused," Strauss said.
“You get a stress fractures in there and as time goes on it gets beat up by mother nature some more.”
Other tree-trimmers out working on cleanup pointed to the well-developed canopy above many of KC's older neighborhoods. They say it's common to find trees haven't been property thinned out, and are therefore prone to snapping in wind.
Oftentimes companies will come out to do an inspection for free. Strauss says the estimate for a trim is much less than the estimate for clearing damage and debris.
"Take a look at your trees. See if there are any signs or indications of stress fractures or weakened joints or limbs or anything that's hanging precariously over the home or over the service line where it doesn't need to be," Strauss said.
KSHB 41 reporter Grant Stephens covers stories involving downtown Kansas City, Missouri, up to North Kansas City. Share your story idea with Grant
