Jill Schramm/MDN A huge, old cottonwood tree was no match for Saturday’s wind, splitting off a portion of its trunk and damaging two vehicles in a neighboring yard, including the one shown. Neighbors say the tree, located in a yard next to the old Ramstad school site in northwest Minot, fell around 4-4:30 p.m., shaking the ground.

The Minot’s Forestry Department has been busy responding to a large number of felled trees and a multitude of fallen branches throughout the city after the 70 mph winds blew through this weekend.

Troy Regstad, city forester, said his crews received 23 calls from Minot Central Dispatch for trees down in roadways or blocking sidewalks.

“The guys pulled a couple off of a house. They pulled a couple off some trucks. They were over at the zoo pulling a couple off some buildings there today. I’m sure the private contractors are pretty busy too,” Regstad said.

Regstad advised the public to continue to keep an eye out for “widowmaker” branches still hanging and to reach out to City forestry so they can be removed.

“The guys started responding to calls Saturday morning, and they worked until about 9 o’clock that night when it got too dark to work anymore. Sunday they came back in at 8:30 and worked until about 8 o’clock,” Regstad said. “We’ve been receiving calls all day for hangers and stuff like that. If homeowners have boulevard trees and if they want to take a look up at them to make sure there aren’t any branches hanging down that are big that could fall and hit someone, they can give us a call or leave us a message because we’re always out working.”

Regstad said Forestry would also be working on restoration and for damaged trees, as such wounds can cause decay over time. The majority of the incidents occurred with older, brittle trees in the valley that had been damaged previously by the flood in 2011.

“The newer trees are a little more limber too. They can bend with the wind. Even their leaves will turn inside out and go with the wind to shed that pressure,” Regstad said.

Charles Crane/MDN
A tree trunk felled during the weekend’s high winds lays next to its shattered stump adjacent to a trail in Oak Park on Monday.