Arborists, tree trimmers begin work ahead of Bay Area weekend storm
CONCORD, Calif. (KGO) -- Arborists and tree trimmers tried to get ahead of this weekend's storm, by cutting down and trimming back old trees weakened by the drought before the high winds blow into the Bay Area.
Trees in Pleasant Hill, weakened by an infestation of beetle, was cut down by work crews, before bad weather did it in a much more dangerous way. Still, some trees will fall to mother nature.
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"We're gearing up for the weekend. We've got crews ready. You know some trees are going to fall," said James Riddle, an arborist.
And fall due to some combination of drought-weakened roots, saturated ground and blustery winds predicted for Saturday.
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PG&E has crews out all over the Bay Area, many trimming branches away from power lines.
"This tree is actually diseased. We want to make sure to move it and have it removed before the weather hits," explained Tamar Sarkissian, a spokesperson with PG&E.
PG&E says keepings tree branches and power lines apart is a 365 day a year job, not just when a storm is looming. That's why they are always on the look for potential problems.
"Certainly it could cause an outage, but it could also bring the line down, that's one of the things we want to avoid," she said.
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Or rain and wind could combine to bring the whole thing down.
With the saturation of the soil, the wind will come up, it will move the tree just a little bit and sometimes the weakened root can't take the extra pressure," said Riddle.
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