Downed tree limbs create busy day of cleanup following southern Wisconsin storm

MONONA, Wis. (WMTV) - Many people spent the day clearing heavy snow off driveways, sidewalks and cars following the winter storm Thursday. For some, the work also included cleaning up tree limbs.

SavATree Consulting Arborist Michael Padrutt says the company has responded to roughly 20 calls, far more than usual for this time of year.

“I’ve seen a good handful of small limbs like this that have just gotten weighed down by snow and ice and broken. I’ve also seen a few trees though that that have uprooted,” Padrutt said.

The weight of Wednesday night’s storm was illustrated by downed branches and trees.

“With the ground being totally saturated and the extra weight, we’re totally able just to uproot themselves completely and unfortunately a couple of them landed on houses,” Padrutt said.

Monona Parks and Recreation Director Jake Anderson said there are several downed branches across the city’s parks Thursday.

“We have to our trees and we assess that damage if it’s something that is going to be an immediate impact for use of the park or potential danger to people using the park. We address it at that time,” Anderson said.

Padrutt says inspections and trimming are preventative measures a homeowner can take to avoid damage in the next storm.

“These loads of ice and snow are not normal forces and the trees are used to so if we can mitigate the damage by removing some poor limb or structure that’s best,” Padrutt said.

He also recommends leaving hanging branches to the pros.

“Yeah, certainly, you know everything I’ve looked at today has been broken in a way that would require, you know, expert skill and Equipment too either getting into a tree via ropes or using our lifts. So most of stuff I’ve seen is not the type of thing. I would recommend homeowners taking on themselves,” Padrutt.

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