Tree Trimmer Compares Current Ice Impact To 2007 Storm

With much of Oklahoma covered in ice on Monday, many people in the state might be reminded of a much worse ice storm in 2007.

That huge weather event destroyed countless trees and power lines and left people without electricity for weeks.

Any time ice is forecasted in Oklahoma, people understandably get nervous, but with about a quarter inch of ice in Tulsa, the totals were nowhere close to 2007, when some places got up to 3 inches of ice.

Kept home by ice-covered roads, crews with Rickert Tree Trimming Service weren't out working on trees on Monday. Instead, owner Todd Rickert was replenishing firewood.

"Seems like about half our inventory goes a week before the first big snow or ice event that's coming into town," said Rickert.

But as people start to survey damage from last night's ice storm, he expects the phone to start ringing.

"A quarter of an inch of ice is where we start to get the phone calls with broken limbs," he said. "As of this moment in time, we haven't received any calls today; I'm sure we'll get calls tomorrow, and the next day, people will be like, 'Oh my God, I should've trimmed that tree or cut it back from my house."

Rickert says preventative tree maintenance is the best way to protect your home or power lines from falling trees.

"Just like those trees that broke during the Father's Day storm, some of those trees we could have prevented had we been out to inspect those trees earlier in the spring," he said.

This ice storm is nothing like the catastrophic damage Oklahomans saw in 2007, but Rickert says trees that were damaged then are weaker where they regrew, which could make things worse if we get several inches of ice again.

"It's highly susceptible to breaking again because where the tree grows off previous damage, it's not as strongly attached. It's not the same as original growth."

He says since those damaged trees have had years to regrow, the impact of a huge ice storm could be even worse than in 2007.

Rickert says waiting for an ice storm forecast is too late to schedule someone to take a look at your trees. He says it's best to do it months in advance.