I think that nearly 400,000 people across Oregon lost power for at least a bit on Friday, while I saw some news photos of smashed cars -- including at least two Prius and a Camry and a fire truck that were "customized." Thousands of trees down, some on homes. Interstate 5 was closed by downed powerlines and trees. Winds topped just over 100 mph in the Coast Range where I live. By some strange quirk of nature, we, of course still do not have power, but no trees across my 400-yard long driveway, nor across the 1.5 miles of additional forest track before we get to the actual "big" county two-lane. A few years ago, same type of storm left about 9 trees piled across the top of our house, smashed one car and blocked our driveway, as well as the access road. Took two days for husband and I to clear our driveway. Glad that was not the case this time This, hopefully, marks the end to the third wettest winter ever in Oregon. Couple photos, courtesy of Pacific Power.
Just be glad your Boston isn't the one in Lincolnshire. Having visited both, for me there is no contest!
Power is back. as of around 2 p.m. today PDT. I know, because I called the house and the answering machine picked up! Some really good photos -- including one of a his/her Prius pair smashed right next to each other by a couple of trees. They are copyrighted news photos, however, and since I respect copyrights, will not try to post them here.
What I got from searching is that PNW coast gets very many high-wind events. Recently notable 1962 Columbus Day Storm. Gives a new perspective on all those Big Trees who have been through it many times before. Second photo@1 struck me as very odd. This is not a normal tree failure mode (in forest). Makes me think about people planting trees 'as pets'.
The first photo is really unique. It reminds me of the early days (1800s) where there would be a clear cut and there will be a dirt road that served as the main street connecting neighbourhoods. Of course photos of those are black & white but the colour photo above is very similar.
Know that the photos were from Pacific Power, a company that makes money selling electricity to the masses. The "right of way" picture (the one without the house) is just that. In the rural areas, the company has a right-of-way for their power lines. No one can build in that swath, nor plant anything that gets more than a couple of feet high. On my property, they have a right-of-way and they come through every three years and cut everything and anything in the path to keep it clear for the power lines. I tend to plant my Christmas trees under the line, as they leave them alone and I cut them down before they get more than about 7 feet tall. Of course, that does not stop trees from the edge from falling into and onto the lines in the right-of-way. As said, the local news outlets had some much better storm photos, but, I was in a hurry and the Pacific Power photos are in the public domain. Just happy we did not have more damage. Every once in awhile Karma does work. The PNW does get a fair number of high wind events. Our property used to be somewhat immune to the wind, since the neighboring property had lots of big fir trees and that provided a windbreak for us. But, and it is a long, sad, story, that property was logged and they left a number of trees right on the edge of the property, normally, any logging operation would have cut those down. But, those were left. We got 100 mph winds a few Decembers ago and those "left overs" came down on my house and cars. Not really a good Christmas that year. Kris
In some areas, powerline right of way cutting schedule favors blackberries and similar. These in turn become bird (and bear) magnets.
The rain (plus snow) gauge at Hubbard Brook (NH) is built on a wooden platform in forest clearing. Its support posts are used for bear self-manicures.
Several trees fell that way from Sandy around here. They may have been planted trees, but that may not have been a factor, as I've seen such falls in 'wild' areas. If the soil is softened from rain, it, and the tap root, could fail before the trunk.
