Texas A&M Forest Service assesses hurricane impact, a state forest temporarily closes

COLLEGE STATION, Texas—In the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, Texas A&M Forest Service has estimated that hurricane force winds, measured by the NOAA National Weather Service, impacted 50% of Houston’s urbanized area tree coverage. Over 400,000 acres of rural forestland were potentially impacted by hurricane force winds (74-80 mph) and another 7.4 million acres of forestland experienced tropical storm force winds (39-73 mph).

The National Weather Service preliminarily reported three tornadoes in East Texas.

As a result of the damage caused by the storm, Texas A&M Forest Service is temporarily closing the W.G. Jones State Forest, in Conroe, Texas, to the public until more efforts can be dedicated to the damage assessment and cleanup of the forest. Texas A&M Forest Service personnel in Conroe and Huntsville are currently transitioning their efforts from chainsaw clearing to points of distribution (POD) activities in the Greater Houston area to assist in water and food supply distribution.

Texas A&M Forest Service continues to have personnel and Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System (TIFMAS) strike teams deployed to aid in response and recovery efforts. 

“This is a difficult time for our community and state,” said Steve Anderson, Texas A&M Forest Service State Lands Coordinator. “Our state forest has experienced damage which can pose a risk to visiting community members. We have decided to temporarily close the W.G. Jones State Forest so that community members can stay safe while our local teams serve in their community first.”

Texas A&M Forest Service Biologist Donna Work assessed the federally endangered red-cockaded woodpecker (RCW) habitat on the state forest and has determined that it was not significantly impacted. The RCW still have plenty of foraging habitat available, and all active cavity trees surveyed are unharmed.

“We used a combination of on-the-ground observation, remote sensing and Forest Inventory and Analysis data to conduct a tree damage assessment for rural forests in East Texas and the Houston metro area,” said Aaron Stottlemyer, Texas A&M Forest Service Forest Analytics Department Head. “This data collection was made possible through strong coordination by our first responders on the ground and data analysts.”

Community trees were among the most heavily impacted by the storm. These trees experienced occasional whole-tree failure exacerbated by saturated soil, small branch shedding and major limb breakage.

Damage to forest trees was relatively light and isolated to road edges or small pockets of pine timber where trees were snapped or had their tops broken out. There were also some cases where some large pines and hardwoods were uprooted and fell over.

Texas A&M Forest Service urges community members to use extreme caution when clearing tree debris from the hurricane. Homeowners and municipalities can utilize Texas A&M Forest Service resources that include chainsaw safety tips, a checklist to determine if a tree is salvageable, how to hire an arborist and much more.

“We often see a rise in injuries in the days and weeks following natural disasters as a result of people attempting to clear damage from their yards,” said Anderson. “By utilizing our online recovery resources, homeowners can recover more safely and strategically.”

Texas A&M Forest Service will continue to assess the damage of the hurricane to produce and share further damage reports while also assisting in local response efforts in the coming days and weeks. The W.G. Jones State Forest will reopen to the public after recovery efforts make way for safe experiences on the forest.