Ice Storms in North Alabama: Small Odds, Large Damage

Why ice does so much damage here

• A half inch of ice can add hundreds of pounds to a mature limb. Trees adapted to southern climates have wider branch angles and thinner wood than northern species.
• Pines and Bradford pears fail earliest. Pines shed whole tops. Bradford pears come apart entirely.
• Damage is heaviest on the side that iced first, which is usually the north and east faces.

During and after

• Stay out from under iced trees. Limbs release without warning, sometimes hours after the ice starts melting.
• Do not try to knock ice off branches. Frozen wood is brittle and you will break what you were trying to save.
• If a line is involved, call Huntsville Utilities at 256-535-1200 and stay clear.
• Photograph damage before cleanup for your insurance claim.

Recovery pruning

• Wait until the ice is fully gone before assessing. Trees often look worse than they are.
• Clean cuts at the branch collar on broken limbs. Ragged breaks invite decay.
• A tree that lost less than about a third of its canopy usually recovers. More than half, and removal is often the honest answer.
• Resist the urge to top a storm-damaged tree. It converts a recoverable tree into a permanent hazard.

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