Wind and trees: A survey of homeowners after hurricane Andrew

Abstract

The destructive winds of Hurricane Andrew dramatically changed the urban forest in Dade County, Florida on August 24, 1992. Overnight, the tree canopy was replaced by a landscape of broken, uprooted, defoliated and severely damaged trees. To assist communities in reforestation efforts, scientists at the University of Florida conducted a homeowner survey to determine how different tree species responded to strong winds. Native tree species, such as box leaf stopper, sabal palm gumbo limbo, and live oak were the best survivors of the winds. Other palms such as areca, cabada, and Alexander were also highly wind resistant. In general, fruit trees such as navel orange, mango, avocado and grapefruit were severely damaged. Black olive, live oak, and gumbo limbo trees that were pruned survived the hurricane better than unpruned trees. Only 18% of all the trees that fell caused property damage. Hurricane-susceptible communities should consider wind resistance as one of their criteria in tree species selection.