Geary County Extension Agent Chuck Otte said with the issuance of an ice storm  warning for our area the threat of heavy ice accumulation on trees, electrical wires and everything outside, becomes very real and a very real threat to resident´s safety. Even moderate accumulations of ice can weigh down tree limbs. With up to one half to one inch of ice
forecast for some areas, serious tree damage will occur. You should never try to knock ice accumulations off of plants as you can cause worse damage to the tree or cause limbs to break and fall on you. Never go out and start trying to clean up limb damage until after the storm is over and the ice has melted off the trees. You never know when a heavily ice coated tree limb may break and fall.

Great care must also be taken to look out for downed power lines that may still be live. Downed power lines can kill. If you have lines in trees, do not try to do anything with the tree until the lines have been removed from the tree. It can sometimes be difficult for homeowners to differentiate between electrical power lines, phone lines or cable television
lines. Wait until the lines have been removed from the tree. If you have tree limbs near power lines, you should never try to prune those yourself as they pose an electrocution risk. Specially trained line clearance crews are all that should be doing this work. Ultimately there is no need to be in a big hurry to clean up tree damage after a storm. The damage is already done and there is plenty of time to clean it up after the ice is gone.

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Chuck Otte                      cotte@ksu.edu
County Extension Agent, Ag & Natural Resources