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As Hurricane Ivan approaches central Alabama, tree care companies there are preparing for a busy time, according to the Montgomery Advertiser.
"I'll be honest, I hope it doesn't come here," Julius Norris, owner of Norris Tree Service in Montgomery, told the Advertiser. "It's going to be a mess."
Tree services are already busy across the area, preparing for the approaching storm. Norris says his crew has been working fast and furious to clean up some wind damage from a week ago and to help people prepare for Ivan.
"We're not taking the time to clean everything up right now, we're just making things safe and then moving on to the next person," he says.
Autauga County forester John Pirtle says that if Ivan comes ashore near Mobile, the state can expect widespread damage to its trees. The deciding factor will be how much rain falls before the high winds begin hitting the area, he says.
"With Opal, the heavy rains saturated the ground before the wind got ashore," he says. "That made it easy for the trees to be pushed over. If we have heavy rains, the shallow-rooted trees like oaks and pecans will see extensive blow over. You have so much mass with the limbs and leaves, the root system just doesn't hold in strong winds. Pine trees have deeper roots, but high winds will either break them off or strip them of their limbs."
Roger Wright, owner of ArborPro tree service in Montgomery, has also been staying occupied. However, he says business is nothing like it's going to be if Ivan comes through.
"When Opal hit, we got 200 calls the first day," he says. "We couldn't keep up."
"You just felt so sorry for some of the people," Norris says of the aftermath of Opal. "You were going as fast as you could, but you just couldn't help them all."
Even lawn services in the area are standing by. Zachary Davis works with Thomas James Lawn Service in Montgomery and said the company will aid their customers by cutting up trees and taking them to the street.