RACINE — Crews are spending the week clearing downed trees across Racine County after Monday's storm brought snow, ice, and wind following days of heavy rain.
Tree removal crews say the combination of saturated ground, shallow roots, and full tree tops made pine trees especially vulnerable during the storm.
Watch: Crews working to remove downed trees in Racine County:
Bryan Busch of Busch Tree Expert said his crews have been responding to calls across the county, including in Racine, Caledonia, Sturtevant, Mount Pleasant, Union Grove, and Wind Point.
"This week's been pretty bad with the high winds, and the rain, and then the snow and now ice," Busch said. "And then you're looking at trees on structures of buildings and houses."
Busch said the days of rain that preceded the storm played a major role in the damage.
"We had a lot of rain, so the ground got really saturated first," Busch said.
Charles Green of Tree Frog Service said that saturation, combined with full tree canopies, created the conditions for widespread toppling.
"It's a big sail. I mean, the winds blowing, and the ground is wet, so it's just easy enough for them to get pushed over versus deciduous trees that have no leaves on them yet," Green said.
Busch and his crew were clearing a tree that fell early Monday morning in Racine. The tree dropped from one yard, over and through a fence, and onto a neighbor's roof. Busch said that job alone would take much of the day.
Green said his crew removed part of a tree from a house Monday, and then, on Tuesday, cleared a completely uprooted spruce tree that had fallen over a neighbor's house. Another tree was found partially uprooted over a garage and power lines.
"Some of the stuff that we've encountered today and yesterday were just random acts of nature," Green said.
Both crews say they have no shortage of work ahead of them.
"It's been a long week with cleaning up these trees," Busch said Tuesday, even as the week was really just starting.
Racine residents waiting to hear back from tree removal crews are asked to be patient, as crews are actively out helping others in the community.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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