SAN ANTONIO — Plenty of people are still scrambling to clean up trees and branches downed by the recent ice storm, and now with the threat of more bad weather upon us, the race to be safe is on.
Tree experts say anyone who saw lots of ice around their house should be taking a close look at all their trees now to make sure danger is not hanging overhead.
The sound of chainsaws still fills the air in the Timberwood Park area off Blanco Road in north Bexar County where many homeowners saw massive amounts of damage to trees and other vegetation.
Julio Franco of Francos Tree and Landscaping Service has been busy there since the storm blew through.
"Working on trees can be easy sometimes, but it can be really dangerous," Franco said, while urging everyone to take safety seriously.
Franco spends much of his time in treetops and Tuesday he was working quickly but carefully as rain threatened most of the day.
“I recommend people trim their trees before anything like this happens because the weight of iced branches can damage the roof of homes,” Franco said.
“What happened is that trees got too much ice on them, and it was too much weight for the branches, so they broke,” Franco said. Fewer branches means a greater chance of success, Franco said.
Homeowner Cathy Darr hired Franco to deal with extensive tree damage on her spacious, oak-filled lot.
"In the 30 years I've been out here, I've never seen this much devastation," Darr said.
Darr said driving through her neighborhood after the storm was an eye-opening experience.
“It looked like a war zone with downed trees everywhere, people cleaning up everywhere. It's just a mess," she said.
Darr says the cleanup is costly, $1,200 just to get the basic work done, but she said the she doesn't want trouble falling out of the sky, when storm damaged branches give up and drop.
“There is a lot of danger. It is scary. It could fall at any minute and you can only get up so high with ladders," Darr said.
After two long days of dedicated labor by Franco’s crew, Darr said she was relieved to be feeling safer.
"Hopefully everything that was going to freeze and fall off is now taken care of. I'm mainly concerned about the roof and my solar panels," Darr said.
With regard to the future, Dana Sotoodeh with CPS Energy said they know people are already starting to think about planting new trees to replace those that have been lost.
“I know it takes trees a while to grow but just pay attention to where you are planting those trees when you start your spring gardening. At some point they could come into contact with a power line so people should be aware of that from the start."
Sotoodeh said anyone with questions about power line safety can call the utility and ask for advice or a visit.
More tips about home safety can be found on the CPS Energy website winter weather page.