AUSTIN | Misc. Discussions - No Politics

[Urbannizer]

We have four large Oak trees that not only span over the house and street but also stand next to one another in our backyard. Very fortunate to only experience minor damage (small limbs down here and there). The sudden cold around Christmas shocked our tallest Palm. I’d be surprised if it comes back, we’re going to wait and see till late Spring before we cut it down.

No power lost and other trees in the neighborhood also faired well compared to the rest of town. We have friends staying over-their power is still out in North Loop and 360 near 2222.

[lzppjb]

There's some damage in my 'hood in Kyle. I have 2 oaks and one of them lost 3 or 4 limbs, but doesn't look to have harmed the trunk. They are about 20 year old trees.

Neighbor's tree has a split trunk now. Awful.

[futuresooner]

The really terrible part is that a safe rule of thumb is that if the total loss of crown is 30% or greater, the tree just needs to come down because it'll never recover fully and will be exponentially more likely to die in the near-term.

This is a truly devastating storm for a large portion of the urban Austin area tree canopy and will have negative impacts right away. There is likely to be a minor, but noticeable, increase in the urban heat island and overall energy consumption by homes from the loss of shade.

[ILUVSAT]

Originally Posted by futuresooner

There is likely to be a minor, but noticeable, increase in the urban heat island and overall energy consumption by homes from the loss of shade.

The damage is devastating - no doubt. However, I don't think people will really notice (physically). It will be more psychological than anything else.

Any scientific affirmation of temperature (heat island) change would be significantly small - and temporary. The vast majority of trees are still there - some with fewer limbs and branches.

[We vs us]

Originally Posted by ILUVSAT

The damage is devastating - no doubt. However, I don't think people will really notice (physically). It will be more psychological than anything else.

Any scientific affirmation of temperature (heat island) change would be significantly small - and temporary. The vast majority of trees are still there - some with fewer limbs and branches.

I don't know. I've read commentary from arborists that's pretty grim. If something like over 30% of the canopy comes down, the damage is deep enough that the tree becomes a future danger when the next or the next or the next storm comes through. That 30% is enough to compromise the entire tree.

And honestly that's my fear -- that in addition to the obviously destroyed trees, we have a second tranche that seem fine enough, but that in actuality need to come down because they're going to be a danger in the future. It won't be throughout the entire city, IMO, but certain neighborhoods (like mine) will see wholesale transformation.

[SproutingTowers]

I have 10 Oak trees and some have serious limbs broken. On same PEC circuit as Seton Southwest so did not lose power. Tree guys coming tomorrow hoping to salvage one with a tree swing.

[ILUVSAT]

Yeah. I can see that.

I guess an intriguing question to answer is how many (overall) trees lost 30% or more of their canopy.

[We vs us]

Yup, we'll see. I think one way or another it's going to take weeks (months?) to get a full view of the damage.

[the Genral]

Originally Posted by We vs us

Yup, we'll see. I think one way or another it's going to take weeks (months?) to get a full view of the damage.

I guess I'm just going to have to wait until spring to see if new leaves pop out from my bushes and hedges that tool a major hit from last December's freeze and to see how my Bradfer Pears and Crepe Mertles have a chance to survive

[KevinFromTexas]

Ugh still no power for us. I spent the afternoon on the roof removing tree limbs. No damage to the roof but our neighbor's tree dropped a limb on our driveway gate and flattened it. The tree damage in the neighborhood is pretty crazy. I've never seen it this bad in the 40 years we've been in this neighborhood.

[LoneStarMike]

From a friend in NW Austin at the Riata near the Apple campus:

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

Ugh still no power for us. I spent the afternoon on the roof removing tree limbs. No damage to the roof but our neighbor's tree dropped a limb on our driveway gate and flattened it. The tree damage in the neighborhood is pretty crazy. I've never seen it this bad in the 40 years we've been in this neighborhood.

I was actually typing this at the restaurant last night. And man were they ever busy. It was our 2nd choice as the first one had a 100 minute wait time for a table. We'd see areas with power on the way there and areas without. The area around Westgate Boulevard & William Cannon was completely dark. There's actually a good view of downtown from the hill up there and it was especially impressive last night looking out over the darkened neighborhood. Anyway, on the way home I started noticing areas that had power that didn't the night before and then streets in our neighborhood that had power that didn't the night before and even earlier in the evening. We turned down our street and it was mostly dark as the street lights were out and it was dark on one side, but then we realized the power was on on our side. I think several people had actually opted to get a hotel or stay with friends as our neighbors did. That was a beautiful sight having electricity again. haha We were without power for a solid 60 hours since Wednesday morning.

[We vs us]

Wow. We’re right around the corner from Riata. But gotta say it looks about right for our neighborhood, too.

EDIT: and Kev, still no power for us either. I know there are legitimate reasons but I’m really starting to not give a shit.

[enragedcamel]

I didn't have power from Wednesday morning to early afternoon today. So three and a half days. Pretty insane to think about America's tenth largest city experiencing prolonged outages like this.

We really need to start burying our power lines. First the February 2021 deep freeze, and now this... they've got to be a wake-up call.

[Jdawgboy]

Got power lastnight!!! This has been extremely stressful and I hope those still without power can get restored as soon as possible.

[Jdawgboy]

So whats everyone's thoughts about the missing guy found in the water, near the Rainey Street District? I frequently walk the trails in the evenings after work and lately been thinking of avoiding that area, however the incidents happened in the early morning hours so I think its safe enough walking in the evening. Still I've heard all sorts of gossip and my best friend lives in the neighborhood along E, Cesar Chavez and she's heard people in her area talk about a possible serial killer...

So I guess the main point of my question is are these simple accidents over the past few years or is there something more going on?

[LoneStarMike]

Originally Posted by Jdawgboy

So whats everyone's thoughts about the missing guy found in the water, near the Rainey Street District?

I think this particular case was an accident. His family was told there was no visible scratching or scarring on the body.

Missing man found in Lady Bird Lake, police confirm

If you watch the KVUE video, it says

Family members say surveillance video showed him stumbling from the bars, but there are no cameras to show them what happened closer to the water.

I think it was an accident caused by too much alcohol, and very poor lighting on the trail near where he was found.

[Jdawgboy]

Originally Posted by LoneStarMike

I think this particular case was an accident. His family was told there was no visible scratching or scarring on the body.

Missing man found in Lady Bird Lake, police confirm

If you watch the KVUE video, it says



I think it was an accident caused by too much alcohol, and very poor lighting on the trail near where he was found.

Sad but at least it wasn't due to nefarious actions in this case.. I'm a little surprised though as I didn't think the water would be so deep next to the shoreline by Rainey, I go kayaking and have set off from near that area and it's fairly shallow for a few feet from the shore before it gets deeper so I'm assuming he just didn't know what direction the shore was after falling in and went into the deeper water. Speculation I know but regardless, there have been several incidents over the last few years so something needs to done so something like this doesn'thappen again. Anyhow I'll continue to walk my regular routes but I have become more watchful of my surroundings.

[Urbannizer]

Here’s where it would be, far from phase 1 haha ������

https://www.google.com/maps/place/16...63231?hl=en-US

[atxsnail]

The downtown salvation army shelter is closing. Any idea what that might mean for the building? Sounds like it's in poor condition and costs are untenable to maintain/repair it.

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/aust...elter-closing/