DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. (WXYZ) — Days after an ice storm hit metro Detroit, arborists say they're still working to clear downed trees.
Monday a crew from Horton's Tree Service went to a home in Dearborn Heights after a tree went through a homeowner's shed.
"I hear BAM! I look out and I really couldn’t tell what was going on. I thought a tree or a branch fell on top of (the shed)," said James Kean who lives in Dearborn Heights. "I came out and looked and realized that actually the big branch impaled my shed and I have a motorcycle in there and lawn equipment."
Kean says he heard the branches crackling three separates times during the middle of the night. He says it was the ice storm that brought his branches down. Nearly two weeks later was the earliest a crew was available to clean it up.
"The next day I went to work, it was beautiful but there was like trees everywhere down Ford Road heading to the freeway," said Kean. "Ice was covering everything and trees were all over."
Owner Ryan Horton says the crews at Horton's Tree Service have been working for 12 days straight on storm clean up.
"We’re just trying to help as many people as possible," said Horton. "We’ve had a lot (of trees) on houses, some just down in yards but there’s a lot of damage everywhere and this particular storm is everywhere. Usually it’s just one secluded area but this is all over metro Detroit so it’s kept us extremely busy."
Horton says his employees have been to Troy, Ann Arbor, Manchester, Monroe and Livonia in the last few weeks.
"When you get that ice on there, it can make the branch up to 30 times heavier than it normally is," said Horton.
PPM Tree Service & Arbor Care crews worked to remove trees in Canton, Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti Monday morning.
"I can’t remember a winter that’s been this bad. For sure the ice storm a week ago was crazy. The heavy, wet snow we just had has really done a lot of damage," said Bryan Dobbs who is an arborist with PPM Tree Service.
Dobbs says his crew had worked seven days straight before a second storm brought heavy snow this past weekend. Dobbs says this is a good time to take a look at trees in your yard to potentially prevent losing them during the next weather event.
"Look at your trees. If you have a dead tree have it removed ASAP," said Dobbs. "Have your trees evaluated, definitely be proactive."
Arborists from PPM and Horton's expect to continue cleaning up downed trees for the remainder of the week.
