With spring right around the corner, it isn’t unlikely that April showers will bring more than just May flowers.The Spring semester here at Delta has brought with it increased rain and gusty wind speeds.
On Feb. 1, the SJDC District Police posted about a fallen tree to their Instagram account.
“…It’s hard to believe it’s supposed to thunderstorm this evening. This morning around 1:30 a.m. a tree fell down due to the high winds. Luckily no one was hurt and there is no property damage,” read the post.
The wind felled more trees on Feb. 4 and 5. SJDC District Police officers monitored campus for potential weather hazards such as flooding, debris and downed power lines, while the Delta College grounds crew got to work cleaning up debris and the fallen trees.
“…We had [six] downed trees and a lot of broken branches throughout our campus. Our grounds department quickly went around and put safety cones and caution tape on the fallen trees. Once they had made sure all pathways were cleared of debris and safe for our students and staff before they came to work, then the team started to remove all the fallen trees,” said custodial and grounds manager Rodney Alvarez via email.
The recent weather has contributed to both fallen trees, as well as backed up drains, creating issues for campus and possible safety hazards in the case of trees falling in areas frequented by pedestrians and/or cars. The combination of both rain and wind can make it so that these safety hazards are more likely, as trees are more likely to fall.
“The rain and wind create a bigger issue for our campus as the rain makes the ground saturated and there is more chance of flooding on the campus and for potential trees to fall. With just wind we see only broken branches falling compared to trees with the rain and wind,” said Alvarez.
Though preparing for specific trees to fall is unlikely, Delta grounds crew is able to prepare for potential issues caused by weather by paying close attention to upcoming forecasting.
“…we have precautionary measures to get ready [for] incoming weather we prepare sandbags to be set up in areas of concerns to potential flooding and we stay on making sure all the drains are cleared of debris. We do get help from the maintenance and custodial departments as they check the drains inside our buildings to see that they are clear, and drains are functioning like they are supposed to. We also have staff on standby just in case of emergencies,” said Alvarez.
If the weather doesn’t lessen in intensity in the future, continued rainfall may create future problems.
“…Prolonged periods of rain and over-saturation of tree roots can cause root rot, which can impact a tree’s ability to consume water and nutrients. Soil saturation also makes it difficult for roots to breathe,” said Alvarez.
Weather can be unpredictable, so it is through continued maintenance, monitoring and emergency preparedness that Delta will be able to address any future weather concerns.