Davey Tree Flipbooks

8 THE DAVEY BULLETIN | March/April 2024 MISSION OREGON WINTER STORMS DAMAGE HOMES AND POWER LINES A thick layer of ice coated the landscape during a storm in Eugene, Oregon. Josh Gray, foreman, Napa office, spent two weeks working on storm recovery in Portland. "There was a lot of destruction. At one house, a tree had demolished a living room. At another home, there was a huge codominant Douglas fir tree that had fallen over and punched a hole through a child's bedroom," Gray said. "Michael kept us in really good spirits. We were working a lot of hours." About 100 miles south of Portland, an ice storm hit Eugene, Oregon. Davey Tree Surgery Company (Surgery Company) was able to assist their new account Eugene Water & Electric Board (EWEB) with power restoration efforts. Ben Johnson, supervisor, EWEB account, Surgery Company led eight EWEB Surgery Company account crews who helped clear trees off power lines for a week and a half. The Portland, Oregon metro area was hit with a series of winter storms early this year. "The storms came in three waves," said Terry Brier, sales arborist, Portland, Oregon, office. "The second storm was the worst one. We had freezing rain and high winds. The trees had extra weight on them from the ice." The Portland office received around 30 storm-related calls per day over a period of several weeks and were supported by Davey Residential/ Commercial services offices from California, Colorado, and Washington. "Normally our winds come from the west, but with these storms, they came through the Columbia River Gorge from the east," said Michael Spaulding, district manager, Portland, Ore. office. "The high volumes of rain that we don't normally see out here made the soil super saturated, resulting in downed trees." East Bay office: Efrain Estrada, Luis Flores and Jose Martinez Portland, Ore. office: Terry Brier, Annamaria Cervantes, Isabelle Christmann, Jairo Corro Cruz, Eli Dunn, Sasha Johnson, Marco Oran Aguilar, Rico Peralta and Brant Rohrer Napa office: Sinclair Blackwell, Nicholas Borissenko, Josh Gray, and Ryan Snapp North Denver office: Maxwell Olsen and Devon Premer Northwest Seattle office: Jason Anderson, Isac Gradilla Viayra, Jason Mayorga and Cody Miller Southeast Seattle office: Edwin Blas, Joshua Kasner and Troy Wyatt Helped the Portland, Ore. office winter storm response Eugene Water & Electric Board account: Augustine Beard, Kyle Constantin, Tyler Coons, Mason Cox, Richard Evans, Ben Johnson, Ricardo Flores Morales, Anthony Guerrero, Norman Lacewell, Joseph McCrory, Sean Menard, Chase Miner, Jason Rose, Yaneev Steinberg, Andrew Tennison, Dylan Townsend, Ryan Wink and Lucas Zieman Helped restore power in Eugene, Ore. post-ice storm EMPLOYEES WHO ASSISTED WITH THE STORMS "It was supposed to be a big rainstorm, but a cold front coming from Canada mixed with a warm front from the rain," said Johnson. "Heavy rain turned to freezing rain on a Saturday. By Monday, there were two inches of solid ice covering the roadways. Many trees were completely frozen and had snapped over." Ryan Wink, foreman, EWEB account, said when speaking with both EWEB employees and homeowners, said this was one of the worst storms they'd seen as far as damage to the vegetation and the grid. "The crews all worked well together to get the jobs done safely and efficiently. That's important because of the time sensitive nature of power restoration," Wink said. An up-close of Jose Martinez Ortiz, trimmer, East Bay office, working aloft to assist the Portland, Ore. office with storm recovery.

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