After writing last week about the need to trim trees that hang too low over streets, especially in the pecan orchard area, Mother Nature moved in to prove how fragile those big old trees can be. Very early Sunday morning, the rain and wind intensified in the Meadowlakes boat ramp area and took down a huge pecan tree at the entrance to the picnic area.  

The tree was estimated to be at least 120 years old, based on the circumference (10 ½ feet) and a count of the rings. It was in the early stages of root rot, but that should not have been enough to uproot it. Very large limbs were broken off of other trees at a home adjacent to the boat ramp, so there may have been some sort of downburst.

The POA owns the park, the streets and the boat ramp, and it contracts with the City to maintain them. In this case, the County also jumped into to assist the City in the clean-up since the boat ramp is a major "waterway" that handles a huge amount of run-off for us.  

By the time I walked back down to the park Monday evening, the waterway (boat ramp) was completely cleared. There was a large pile of huge sections of the trunk (one was estimated to weigh 8,000 pounds) awaiting pick-up for repurposing, and another gigantic pile of limbs and leaves was piled near Meadowlakes Drive to be removed and disposed of this week.   The hole in the ground left by the tree and some adjacent concrete areas still need attention.