LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — It’s cleanup time around the valley after a weekend windstorm knocked down trees and power lines. Thousands of homes were without power for hours and in some cases days.
The saws are humming at Craig Regional Park. A landscaping crew cleaning fallen trees after a weekend windstorm surprised some neighbors.
“In our backyard, we got the barbeque grill, the umbrella, all that stuff blew away or blew over so it was a big mess,” Juan Alcaine, who lives in North Las Vegas, said.
Workers from Par 3 Landscaping cleaning up the mess. A manager says around 20-25 trees at the park crashed to the ground all of them around 40 to 60 years old.
“Pretty horrifying to see trees that large coming down, but luckily it was in a local park. No property damage or injuries to anybody,” Bobby Rivera, a branch manager with Par 3 Landscaping, said.
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Some neighborhoods in the valley saw some damage like this tree just missing a house near Decatur Boulevard and Washington Avenue. Andrew Callahan, a manager with Affordable Tree Service saw a 200 to 300 percent jump in calls from people wanting their yards cleaned up or their trees trimmed.
“A lot of calls and emails and texts, and Yelping. All those requests coming in,” he said.
NV Energy says it has 18 different crews working on restoring power to thousands of homes because of wind damage. Dozens of customers are still waiting for their power to come back as of Monday afternoon. Callahan says he expects calls for service to continue through the week.
“People will probably still be calling about falling branches. Maybe they haven’t taken a look at their house yet or it’s a rental property,” he said.
He says trimming and pruning a tree can make a difference to keep it from falling.
“You want to get your tree trimmed so your wind can blow through the tree and so it’s not blowing and hitting the tree, so it doesn’t sway or take damage in the wind,” Callahan said.
He says taking care of them once or twice a year is a good idea.
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“You always want to make sure your tree is balanced from any leaning. You want to make sure it’s not top heavy and the roots are solid in the ground,” Callahan said.
Rivera says tree maintenance is important and in the long run, can add value to someone’s home.
“Trees can be an asset to your property. As the tree matures, it does gain value on the tree so a lot of times if people kind of take that attitude, they won’t be afraid to put money towards it,” he said.
NV Energy is asking people to make sure things like lawn furniture or trampolines are secure in their yards.
