Tag: Storm damage

Improving hurricane assessments with FIA data

by Mei Geller, SRS Science Communications Intern  • 
In October of 2018, Hurricane Michael made landfall and left a trail of damage of over six million acres of forest and ten billion cubic feet of timber across Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.   Timber is a critical part of the economy in all three states, so measuring damage to forested land was vital for the…  More 

Satellite Mapping of Forest Disturbances Can Help When Field Efforts Are Restricted

by Lars Pomara, Eastern Threat Center  • 
A large number of tornadoes struck the Southeast in the spring of 2020. Ordinarily, aerial surveillance and field crews would assess forest damage after windstorms and other disturbances, but the COVID-19 pandemic has limited those operations. USDA Forest Service scientists are showing that, with recent technological advances, disturbance impacts can nonetheless be rapidly mapped at…  More 

How the Urban Forest Strike Teams Began

by Excerpted from longer article by Paul Revell, Urban Forestry Coordinator, Virginia Department of Forestry  • 
The Urban Forest Strike Teams (UFSTs) are a means for city foresters, state foresters, commercial arborists, and others to quickly come to the aid of a region whose urban forest has been impacted by a natural disaster. Here’s the backstory.  In 2003, Hurricane Isabel cut a devastating path across Virginia, leaving lots of damaged trees…  More 

Crash and Burn: How Tornado Damage Affects Fire Behavior

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Delivery Group  • 
Tornadoes and fires are powerful natural disturbances that can kill trees and cause long lasting changes in community composition. “However, most disturbances are neither rare nor catastrophic,” says U.S. Forest Service scientist Joseph O’Brien. “There is a continuum of disturbance severity in most ecosystems, although the interactions among these disturbances haven’t received much study.” One…  More