21
November/December 2017
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THE DAVEY BULLETIN
MEMORABLE MEMORIAL DAY STORMS HIT MEMPHIS
On Memorial Day weekend, strong
storms ravaged Memphis, Tennessee,
with winds exceeding 100 mph.
Bob Jurgens, district manager, Jones
Bros. Tree & Landscape, a Davey
company, said in his 42-year career
this storm ranks in his top three most
destructive. Such a severe ranking
is based on the amount of property
damage, the number of trees lost and
the size of the trees.
In Memphis, the trees are large and
it's not uncommon for an oak tree
to be 4 feet or 5 feet in diameter,
Jurgens said.
"When they come down they can
do excessive damage," Jurgens said.
"We had some homes with multiple
trees on them. Several homes were
uninhabitable after the storm."
The office collaborated with Eastern
Utility crews working out of Alabama
and the Arborguard Tree Specialists
Atlanta Residential/Commercial office.
"They were really good guys and
hardworking," said Nathan Baker,
assistant district manager, Jones Bros.
"It was greatly appreciated and helped
us out a lot."
Above: The storm uprooted several trees
at Forest Hill Memorial Park. Davey crews
used cranes to lift the trees off the graves
and markers.
Arborguard sent Josh Horwitz,
crew leader, Brad Turner, crew leader,
Tomas Rivera, climber, and Alan Tice,
groundman, to aid Jones Bros.
"We were just there to kind of
reinforce what they already had going
on and were extra hands on deck,"
Horwitz said.
Horwitz said he worked closely with
Andy Smith, foreman, Jones Bros.
"Andy was a great guy and did a
great job showing us the ropes,"
Horwitz said.
Baker said they worked on a local
cemetery project at Forest Hill
Memorial Park with 40 removals and
40 trees to prune. Twelve trees, 50
inches in diameter or larger, were
completely uprooted.
"The cemetery was a really great
success," Baker said. "If you were to
drive out to the cemetery today, you
wouldn't see any impact from where
we removed the trees."
Jurgens said Rhodes College also
sustained major tree damage. Jones
Bros. crews had to secure the area
and clean up the debris, because
students were getting ready to come
back to class after the holiday weekend.
"From a timing standpoint, if we were
going to have a storm like that it was
good timing, because the college
didn't have a whole lot of activity,"
Jurgens said.
Thanks to the support provided by the
other offices, crews also could clean
up storm damage at countless other
residential properties.
The recovery was a valiant effort by all
involved to stay on task to complete
the projects, Jurgens said.
Baker said it was a testament to
the caliber of the employees that
were working.
"The managers try to set up a plan
and implement it," Baker said "But,
without the crews that were trained,
qualified, had the experience and
the work ethic, it is hard to get that
amount of work done. They brought
their A-game."
