JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — JEA and tree service crews spent Wednesday morning trimming trees in Jacksonville, after heavy rainfall, left yards saturated and increased the risk of dead trees falling.
In Mandarin, parts of Hood Road were completely underwater for most of the day Wednesday, that water not only in the roadway but puddled around these trees and saturating the ground.
Experts warn homeowners, if you have dead trees in your yard, the heavy rainfall could cause those trees to come toppling down.
Samuel Turner isn’t taking any chances when it comes to falling trees around his home.
“If it comes down, its going to damage that whole power line and we’ll have power out on the whole block, and maybe around the block and it’s going to damage that gate over there," Turner, a homeowner on Jacksonville's Northside, said.
Wednesday, JEA crews assisted with the removal of this tree due to the risk of it falling on power lines.
"We're going to work with insulated trees around the power lines to make that tree safe for a private contractor to continue the work," Joe Anderson, a JEA degreed forester, said.
Experts say a healthy tree will help soak up water from the ground, but a dead or damaged tree could become to heavy and fall after days of rain.
“Sometimes the saturated soil can interfere with the roots system and the root system my fail and you may have trees that will fall over, having proper tree maintenance is really important to having a resilient Jacksonville," Anderson said.
That’s why its suggested that homeowners consult an arborists and schedule routine cycle trimming every two-and-a-half years.
It’s what Turner did when he noticed how close his tree was to the power lines.
“Just best to go a head and get it down now, before it causes a whole lot of damage," Turner said.
If you have any concerns about trees near power lines, you can contact the JEA Tree Care Team.