Davey Tree Flipbooks

14 THE DAVEY BULLETIN | May/June 2018 MY DAVEY 4 NOR'EASTERS HIT IN 3 WEEKS Unusual winter weather spent nearly the entire month of March blowing down trees, knocking out power to tens of thousands and causing millions of dollars in damage to residential properties all along the East Coast. A whopping four nor'easters struck within a span of three weeks starting on March 2 with winter storm Riley, followed by winter storms Quinn on March 7, Skylar on March 13 and Toby on March 22. Hundreds of Davey employees stood tall in the middle of it all working to remove trees from houses and helping utility clients turn the lights back on. UTILITY CLIENTS CALL FOR AID Bill Van Cura, regional vice president of Utility operations, Upper Atlantic, said crews started preparing on Feb. 27 for the first storm. "The first storm was mainly rain and high winds in New England, and then the last three turned out to be snow storms," Van Cura said. "So the crews went from some milder weather with rain to, in some areas of Massachusetts, 2 feet of snow they were trying to work in. Trying to work your way through the snow, especially in some of the rural off-road areas, was a challenge." At the height of the response, 189 crews – a total of 395 Utility employees – were working in eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Utility clients included FirstEnergy, PSE&G, National Grid and several smaller municipal utilities. Davey sent crews from Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Virginia, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Wolf Tree, a Davey company. Mike Mittiga, vice president of Utility operations, Atlantic, said Davey's safety team assisted to ensure crews worked safely during the storm recovery. "These events are when our true Davey colors shine," Mittiga said. "Our employees came through and made the Davey difference for our Utility clients and the general public." PHONES RING NONSTOP AT RESIDENTIAL OFFICES The high winds that came with the first storm, Riley, forced the closure of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Maryland. Craig Ritter, district manager, Chesapeake Residential/ Commercial (R/C) office, said the winds topped out at 70 mph. "It was the most storm-related work we've had in a winter in easily five or six years," Ritter said. "Previous winters were mostly snow damage to evergreens. This is the first time in my 10 years here we've had that kind of wind in the winter." The heavy winds uprooted countless trees, many of which fell onto clients' homes. The office's storm related work continued throughout March. Mario Cipriano, district manager, Northern Virginia R/C office, said his first storm call came at 5 a.m. on the first full day of winter storm Riley. "The calls kept coming in after that," he said. "We were just inundated with calls." Crews worked 13 days in a row nonstop on storm work. Northern Virginia had so much work from wind damage that the Richmond R/C office sent a crew to help. By March 30 crews were still processing storm calls. Derek McDaniel, sales arborist, Northern Virginia office, received an urgent text message late on a Sunday for a client whose commercial properties were a long-time Davey account. A massive beech tree, about 110 feet tall and 30 inches in diameter, had uprooted and was tangled in several other trees, hanging precariously over the client's home in the backyard. "We hired a 155-ton crane to reach over the house for the removal," McDaniel said. "It was the worst tree I dealt with during the storm response." Joe Beall, assistant district manager, Northern Virginia office, managed a similar uprooted tree removal. But this time the client wasn't as lucky. The 28-inch diameter white oak had crashed into the house. "Initially we expected a 33-ton crane would be able to remove it," Beall said. "When that crane couldn't do the job, we had to call in a 60-ton crane from Baltimore. Fortunately, it arrived the same day so we could finish the job for the client." " These events are when our true Davey colors shine. " — Mike Mittiga vice president Utility operations Atlantic Left: A beech tree hangs precariously over a client's house after a nor'easter.

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