Remember that bad storm that hit southwestern Ontario over the Civic Holiday Weekend?
A report going to Windsor city council Monday night details the cost to remove and trim trees damaged in that storm, and it was not cheap. The report says the cost to the city was $250,000.
A line of thunderstorms brought heavy downpours and winds of up to 67 km/hr, the strongest wind event since May 2018. Enwin Utilities reported 14,000 customers without power after the wind brought down trees and power lines.
"After reviewing our statistics, this storm has had the largest negative impact on our trees and resources than all other previous storms recorded over the past five years," said the report. "In fact, this one storm generated twice as many service requests than all of August 2017 alone."
There were 1,187 requests for tree maintenance following the storm, compared to 250 calls after the tornado of 2016. It took three weeks of regular working hours, and another 500 hours of overtime to assess, prioritize, and clean up all the downed debris.
Since the storm, city crews have identified 130 trees that will have to be removed, and another 270 trees that will need trimming. That only added to a backlog for tree maintenance.
