HOLLAND, Mich. — Fallen branches and high winds kept Holland's parks crew busy Friday, with the city's Parks and Recreation director saying his team is always "ready to roll."
Holland Parks and Recreation Director Andy Kenyon said his tree crew responded to multiple calls Friday morning across the city's 23 parks, which span roughly 405 acres and include about 15,000 trees.
"Today's been a little bit of a busy morning. They've got six or seven calls," Kenyon said. "We're very fortunate with this particular storm that there's no leaves on the trees. ... It creates big sails for the wind to grab, and then that helps to tip trees over and break branches off."
Kenyon said his crew prepares ahead of any incoming storm.
"The guys prep up, they get their saws sharpened, fuel up their trucks, ready to go, and then we just wait for phone calls from either Central Dispatch or from residents that call in that have trees down," Kenyon explained.
As of Friday afternoon, no full trees had fallen in Holland's parks. However, Kenyon warned that saturated ground increases the risk of trees toppling entirely.
"When the ground is really heavy with rainwater or groundwater, it makes the root balls tend to tip over too, so it'll help a tree fall, which isn't great," Kenyon said.
With more rain and wind in the forecast for the Holland area this weekend, Kenyon said his team is prepared.
"We're always at the ready, whenever anything happens. So the guys are ready to go and ready to roll at a moment's notice," said Kenyon.
However, he said they're also ready to welcome a change in the season.
"We're really hoping that it starts to warm up a little bit and we can have more days without snow than with snow," Kenyon said.
