BOSTON – Eversource has begun to remove dead and hazardous roadside trees that are high-risk to take down power-lines and cause outages.
Trees in New England are in particular jeopardy as of late due to invasive species like the Emerald Ashe Borer and the Gypsy Moth.
Those species accompanied by the dry conditions we have been facing in New England creates a perfect storm for creating dead trees.
“Whether it be the gypsy moth that has been around for a number of years or the winter moth that really has taken off in the last fifteen or twenty and we constantly have other threats that compound that,” said
Experts at the University of Massachusetts say that tree death begins slow with the loss of twigs and small branches, and over time tree begin to lose bigger branches that have the potential to take down power lines and cause power outages.
Eversource also looks for trees that, although healthy, could be taken down due to New England weather.
“Anytime we have a nor’easter, a hurricane threat, or severe thunderstorm trees start to be one of those one of those elements that become critical to maintain to avoid outages,” said Sellers.