Just because a tree looks a bit odd or damaged, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to topple during a tropical storm or hurricane, new University of Florida research shows. When assessing trees, arborists normally examine dozens of visual defects to determine which trees pose an unacceptable risk of “failure” — for example, falling or uprooting. For the new study, UF/IFAS researchers surveyed trees with three defects — just two weeks after Hurricane Ian in 2022. This helped them determine better what trees fall during hurricanes.
Studying the trees
Scientists studied branches that stick out beyond the rest of the crown, trunks that split into two equal size stems and multiple branches that connect to the trunk all at the same point.
These growth patterns tend to be seen as weaknesses by tree care professionals. But few studies have assessed if they are too weak to survive a storm.
“We looked at past research (including our own) and noticed these defects never predicted failure. This surprised us, so we decided we would only look at these three conditions when the next hurricane hit,” said Andrew Koeser. He’s a UF/IFAS associate professor of environmental horticulture.
Related: Hurricane History in Tampa Bay
That next hurricane struck Florida on Sept. 28, 2022. Koeser and his team started examining trees in Hillsborough County parks. Koeser is a faculty member at the UF/IFAS Gulf Coast Research and Education Center.
By the time it swept through Hillsborough County, Ian’s strength had lessened to a tropical storm with top winds of 60 mph. This is a wind speed you would expect a sound tree to be able to weather.
Researchers surveyed 1,518 trees and found the storm broke branches on only 14 trees, or less than 1%. No trees fell or were uprooted.
This mirrors some of Koeser’s prior research in 2017 after Hurricane Irma. He led a team that found about 75% of trees sustained no damage.
How to protect against tree damage
Despite these data, people should protect against potential tree damage when a tropical storm or hurricane is approaching, Koeser said.
“Our study was conducted in managed areas in a county park system. So the spacing of the trees and their care were very similar to what you would likely see in a residential setting,” he said.
Furthermore, some defects like dead branches, big holes in the trees’ trunks and recently uprooted trees that lean have been tied to tree failure in hurricanes, said Koeser.
“Those defects are the ones people should look out for,” he said.
