Sycamore Drive Closed Due to Downed Power Lines
Decatur Metro | June 26, 2011 | 9:22 pmDeanne writes in…
Please advise folks to avoid Sycamore Drive. We have a downed power line on the 500 block caused by a big tree that snapped in half during the storm.
Fortunately, no one was hurt. (Two cars were crushed, but it seems to have missed our neighbors’ house). The Decatur Fire Dept arrived immediately to block off the area, and GA Power is doing their thing. Now that it’s pitch dark, it’s dangerous to have folks out there doing u-turns near fire fighters.
Not Decatur proper, but a tree was blocking Clifton Road just north of Fernbank Museum early this morning. The road was closed from Druid Hills Golf Club to the first big curve around the golf course.
Daylight update:
A large oak bough cracked and snapped off 1/3 of a pine on its way down. There’s still a broken off tree section that’s wedged way up high. Now that some of the debris has been cleared, it may be that the cars aren’t a loss. (They were buried last night when a neighbor checked it out.) Again, so glad no one was hurt. Power was restored a few minutes before 4am.
Traffic comment:
Man, folks just don’t pay attention when driving down Sycamore Drive! Power was out on all the surrounding streets, making it pretty dang dark, but folks were still driving almost up to the fire truck at 25-30mph before noticing that they couldn’t get by! (They weren’t very courteous of each other in the turning around process either. Heaven forbid if a car began turning around sooner– the other car would zip right on past!)
I live on the corner of Sycamore and Grove, damn thing nearly hit MY house. The lightning strike happened right overhead, scary as heck. GP keeps coming to cut the brush back around these powerlines. Why don’t they do a better job of it, for goodness sake? And why don’t people shut off their electricity when it goes off the grid? Dang transformer blew again twice around 2. Turn off your electricity when it goes off! The grid can’t handle 0 power to past full like that. Geez.
Ok folks. What can be done about the residents and companies like GP that don’t properly cut and trim their trees? Most of the damage of property could be avoided if the city forced residents and companies to maintain their trees.
How many houses hit, cars damaged, lives lost have to happen?
Many cities require property owners to maintain their property in order to protect the local residents.
WHY NOT HERE? I own two properties and have spent many $$$$ making sure my trees were pruned and skirted but drive down Sycamore and check out the dead, improperly trimmed(thanks Georgia Power-where did you learn that asinine trim job) and NOT EVER TRIMMED trees
Believe me since I sat in the dark until 4am thinking about this, I will let the city know my complaints.
Get your trees properly trimmed!
This particular healthy tree was well away from the power lines when it was apparently struck by a powerful lightning bolt. How far onto one’s property should GP go to hatrack mature trees?
Decatur is very restrictive about property owners removing large trees and how exactly does one “trim” a tree at the 80+ foot level? No tree service bucket truck is going into that territory.
It is worth reconsidering the tree ordinance. It tends to discourage any work on large trees. Perhaps Decatur can provide a tree inspection service for a small fee.
I am all for a city-sponsored tree inspection service for a fee. You can call 10 tree companies or aborists and get 10 opinions about the trees on your property or neighboring properties. My husband is a tree lover and needs some very official paperwork before being willing to do anything to a tree. Meanwhile, all the neighbors trees look scarey to me but what do I do?–send a note to all 5-8 properties with trees that could possible end up on our property saying that I’m worried? Worried on the basis of….? To me, any tree that is tall enough to end up on my house, garage, cars, or children is scarey.
After a limb from a neighbor’s oak tree crashed through my garage roof during an earlier storm, I asked my neighbors to trim their trees (we pruned ours too). Everyone was very nice about it and we feel much safer now! The worst they could say is no. I’d ask!
Or, lacking that, you could ask permission to at least trim the part of the tree that overlooks your property, if that makes you feel better. BTW, if your neighbor refuses either request, you might want to find a way to document that, since it could qualify for negligence on their part and therefore make them liable, although you might need an arborist to substantiate it.
Or, if you want to jockey for a Horrible Neighbor or Total Jackass Award, you can just cut whatever extends over the property line into your yard. It goes against pretty much everything this town seems to value but, I suppose if you’re up against a neighbor who refuses to do anything themselves, it’s worth knowing it’s your right to get choppin’. (Steve, this is correct, right?)
Always better to work it out all neighborly like, though.
I’m not sure about your right to cut the portion of neighbor’s tree hanging over your property without permission. I imagine you can, but you might want to consult with an arborist or attorney.
Great suggestions. What about tall trees that are not overlooking our property but could fall on it if they tipped over? How can even an arborist know whether to worry?
It would be tough for an arborist to do anything but assess the general condition of the tree. They can’t tell too much about the extent of the root system.