Tom Bythell has his work down to a routine.
Bythell, the University’s forest manager, said he and his team of approximately 100 groundskeepers check on the health of trees around campus almost daily.
Heavy storms and strong winds Thursday knocked down trees on Franklin Street and across the county and state, but Bythell said his frequent inspections aim to prevent just that.
“We have one of the most aggressive tree maintenance plans of any university in the country,” he said.
Bythell said a number of factors could make trees more susceptible to falling — including increased foot traffic, nearby construction and heavy rains.
Jill Coleman, a landscape architect at UNC, said even healthy trees sometimes cannot stand up against extreme winds, such as those felt in Thursday’s storm.
“Whenever you have extreme weather events — and in particular this one, which seemed to be a wind event — then it’s going to blow things over, some that are stable and some that are not stable,” she said.
Coleman said the combination of both the winds and the high amount of rain this season could have contributed to the number of fallen trees.
“The ground just softens up,” she said.
