VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Hours before Hurricane Helene's outer bands passed through Hampton Roads, tree cutting contractors spent part of the day removing potentially hazardous trees and debris from nearby homes.
“Really, in the Hampton Roads region in general, when we get saturation from rain and wind, we almost always get calls for storm damage," Kevin Kryzda of Arbor Experts said. "A fact of life here, with maturity of trees. I would say it’s 100 percent of the time when we see impact."
Kryzda anticipated after the heavy rain, even if trees didn’t come down after the initial wind gusts, trees could be coming down in the coming days after flooding.
“A lot of the storm damage calls we get aren’t exactly breaks from wind," he said. "It’s actually uprooting from ground saturation, making the roots of those trees destabilize. We see a lot of phone calls for that, even in the days after with blue bird skies,” he added.
The consequences for not removing potentially dangerous trees mean neighborhoods could be rebuilding for months after a storm, such as the Haversham Close neighborhood in Virginia Beach. A year and a half ago, they were struck with an EF-3 tornado, and six homes were destroyed.
Though Virginia Beach wasn't in Helene's direct path, Kryzda said he thinks they'll be taking many calls this weekend.