INC NEWS - City of Durham Responding to Numerous Downed Tree Reports

[RW Pickle]

>From the City PR Dept.
RWP
27 Beverly

Citizens Should Report Downed Trees Blocking Streets to 911 or Durham One
Call; Downed Power Lines and Power Outages to Duke Energy

Durham, N.C. – Strong winds are prompting City of Durham staff to respond
to numerous calls for downed trees throughout the city.  Many citizens
have contacted the 911 Emergency Communications Center throughout the day
reporting downed trees blocking streets or leaning on power lines.

“As of about 2 p.m., we’ve cleaned up about 37 trees in streets or on
power lines since this morning,” said Kevin Lilley, facilities operations
manager for Landscape Services and Urban Forestry in the City’s Department
of General Services.  “We have about 34 more trees to go, and will be
working throughout the day and into tomorrow to remove these trees,” he
said.

Lilley said his staff is working closely with Duke Energy and intends to
clean up all of the trees reported that are causing street blockages, but
have to prioritize safety issues first, such as trees blocking major
streets or trees on power lines.

The calls began coming into 911 at about 8 a.m., and by 10 a.m., more than
201 calls had been logged, said Jim Soukup, emergency communications
director for the 911 Emergency Communications Center.  “We normally
receive about 1,000 calls a day.  We’ve already reached 981 at 2 p.m.,” he
said.  Soukup advises the public to call 911 if a downed tree presents a
safety issue, especially if it is blocking a street or is on a power line.

Residents also may contact Durham One Call at (919) 560-1200 to report
downed trees blocking streets or on power lines.  City staff will remove
trees blocking streets or on the city-right-of-away while Duke Energy will
address any power line issues.  In the meantime, residents should not
attempt to remove trees causing street blockages.  Instead, residents
should try to find another route to reach their destination.   Durham
residents are reminded to be careful of downed power lines and may report
them to Duke Energy at 1-800-POWERON (1-800-769-3766) or in Spanish at
1-866-4APAGON (1-866-427-2466).

Finally, the Police Department advises motorists to treat intersections
with malfunctioning traffic lights as four-way stops and proceed with
caution.