Tree Damage in Intense Landfalling Hurricanes of the Past

[chaser1]

A really interesting and challenging project to take on and one that I think you'll find with time will be complimented by data and input by a number of others during the "off season". Given the limited time everyone has in conjunction with a plateful of current forum threads, I think many will eventually take the time to resurrect your post and add a good deal of addition great discussion.

Post analysis including comparisons of tree and overall foliage damage offers us tremendous insight to the destructive nature and large scale impact resulting from strong tropical cyclone landfall events. Drawing intensity comparison however seems pretty daunting given the multitude of variables involved (type's of tree's, storm wind-field, wind trajectory and hours of impact, overall topography, storm surge and other storm exacerbated impact, etc.) but I realize those observations are not being ignored with some having already been briefly considered.

A couple of quick thoughts (possibly already addressed in some of the above individual event analysis) that immediately occurred to me include the differential impact as a result of up-slope (topographical impact) terrain highlighted during some infamous Island landfall events. Obviously, some level of wind forcing or added vertical affect is further exhibited during those landfall events that may not be as similarly duplicated in flat terrain landfall events. Another curious thought is what greater twisting damage might have occurred during very small intense storms such as Andrew, as compared to far larger wind-field land-falling hurricanes where effects may appear characterized by more straight-line appearance? Finally, one additional variable which certainly might affect how severe tree damage might be perceived or compared in the future is the degree (and strength of structure) due to a particular regions' urbanization and type's of construction. Assuming outside of storm surge inundation, urbanized regions exhibiting large strongly built structures (especially those built to code) may well shield tree's and other vegetation at least closely to ground level. I only make that point when attempting to compare the distinction of lesser "wind-barrier" impact to those area's where a good deal more modern construction may be more common as compared to "greener" less urban more natural Island habitats.

[Chris90]

Another storm you may want to consider adding is Hurricane Mitch of 1998. He's famous for the massive flooding he caused and the resulting large number of casualties, but before landfall in Honduras, the island of Guanaja off the coast of Honduras took a direct hit while Mitch was close to his peak intensity from what I can tell.
He destroyed almost the entire population of red mangrove trees, uprooting or knocking down most of them, and the ones that were left standing took so much internal damage they couldn't regrow. 70% of conifer trees were knocked down, and all trees were stripped of their leaves. Apparently the island was subjected to 2 days worth of winds exceeding 120mph.
Links to photos:
https://goo.gl/images/RfvgW6
https://goo.gl/images/dgPVsu
https://goo.gl/images/PDXWku
https://goo.gl/images/oH8A1n

[mrbagyo]

Just want to drop some of the rare images of Tree damage from Typhoon Megi in Isabela Province in the Northern Sierra Madre, Luzon -
https://imageshack.com/a/img923/7189/VqhpAb.jpg
https://imageshack.com/a/img924/6531/ds9MN4.jpg
https://imageshack.com/a/img923/1194/79MDjt.jpg
https://imageshack.com/a/img923/8949/iXWCac.jpg
You'll notice in the above photos that the vegetation damage wasn't that extreme as one would expect from a Cat 5 landfall- maybe that's because the photos were taken in Palanan (which is located in the weaker southern Eyewall or maybe the trees just evolved to be so freakin resilient/tough).

This photo is an exception though - which was probably taken somewhere above the Sierra Madre north of Palanan (maybe in Divilacan or Maconacon ), notice the dramatic demarcation line

all photos were taken by the late Filipino Botanist Leonard Co who experienced Megi firsthand in Palanan, Isabela (I won't be surprised if he was also there in 1998 during Super Typhoon Zeb).

[wxmann_91]

Now that Michael is in the books I think it is worthy of comparison to the other great ones in this thread.

Extreme damage of pine trees was noted by Mark Sudduth (hurricanetrack).

Trees denuded and snapped near Panama City.

The tree damage could even be seen in space.

[supercane4867]

Michael's destruction to forests reminds me of scenes from 2011 tornado outbreak

 https://twitter.com/aaronjayjack/status/1050514866895814659




 https://twitter.com/weatherdak/status/1050571101909049344

[tolakram]

What an incredibly well timed thread, including the discussion of Camille. If Camille was going through an ERC this would explain why damage was as bad as it was with the wind and surge spread out. With Michael we see a high end cat 4 (I believe 5) and the extreme wind damage in a more narrow area. The tree damage alone scream cat 5 to me, but then I'm not qualified to judge wind speed from damage.

[EquusStorm]

Wow so much great discussion, contributions, and content! I am thrilled!

@ chaser1 Very very good points and observations, I agree. It's not going to be a perfect or easy task for sure and there are an absurd amount of variables that will prevent perfect accuracy; but it's still pretty neat to compare even though there are tremendous differences around the world with tree types, topography, etc. Definitely a lot of things to consider and discuss.

@ Chris90 Ah, I actually did not know Mitch affected an island during its offshore stall! Very interesting! Will certainly have to be added. Thanks!

@ mrbagyo Rare and fascinating photos - thank you very much for sharing! Am really appreciative of more WPac documentation, I could not find very much with basic web searches.

@ wxmann_91 No doubt - I am still reeling that Michael was a thing that actually happened. Some of the worst tree damage ever seen in the mainland US without a doubt. Will certainly add Michael and many more soon.

@ supercane4867 Yeah, my thoughts when watching the Tyndall AFB flyover shifted quickly to "this reminds me of Tuscaloosa" when the shredded remnants of trees showed up in frame. It's chilling. Basically a 40 or 50 mile wide EF2-3 tornado that lasts an hour. Can't begin to fathom it. The degree of inland penetration of high-end completely forest leveling winds is just unreal.

@ tolakram I swear I had no idea Michael was going to happen when I made this thread, lmao. Timing, indeed. I guess it was Camille discussions that led to looking into this. There's pretty good photo-documentation for Camille given that cameras weren't as ubiqtuous in 1969 as in later decades but I still wish there was even more. I've seen a crude radar loop of Camille's landfall and it looks like the southern eyewall had opened up in an ERC, probably before having any intensity effect, but that could very easily be an artifact of the more primitive radar at the time rather than an actual gap in high eyewall returns. It would help explain a larger wind field to enhance the insane surge, though.

[mrbagyo]

Can we extrapolate or compute the wind load requirement / force needed to snap a certain tree species based on its green (because the tree is still alive) MOR or Modulus of Rapture, tree Height, trunk width?
I think MOR of pines typically range from 50 to 100 MPa (plantation trees tend to be lower though).
Palms are about 80 MPa but could be even higher depending on age (it's a monocot, the strongest part is on the outer part not on the inside)
Hardwood trees typically have values ranging from 80 to 200 MPa ( though some can be lower that softwood trees like balsa).

[Ubuntwo]

Debarking of pines from Michael. Image from iCyclone.

[mrbagyo]

Typhoon Bopha (December 2012) in Baganga & Cateel, Davao Oriental.
Coconut tree snapped at the trunk


More snapped Coconut trees


Punctured Coconut tree

[birdwomn]

HURRICANE FREDERIC: I can vividly recall driving through miles & miles of pines either snapped or bent over to the ground driving from MS to Mobile. It was not as bad as Michael or Camille, IMHO, but pretty amazing considering it was not as remarkable as the others on your list.

[galaxy401]

Well now we have a new Category 5 landfall with Dorian in the northern Bahamas. Some photos are coming in of the destruction and that includes the trees. Heard some palm trees got completely uprooted.

Some pictures I found on Discord and Twitter. Granted, I don't know if they're 100% reliable but the actual damage should be similar.





Obivously this is still an ongoing process so we'll get more photos of the damage in the coming weeks.

[Audrey2Katrina]

I won't argue with experts on Camille's intensity, as I have no legitimate claim to know any better than them, but I really do wish photo-documentation was better; that I haven't ever found any photos suggesting anything over 130-140mph doesn't mean the photos don't exist, or it could easily mean that the worst was simply not photographed. Documentation in the 60s is honestly pretty iffy even in the US. I would certainly believe that there was a super narrow corridor of extreme winds in the eastern eyewall, being an extremely tightly wound storm, but I have yet to find any photos from this area, which would have undoubtedly been hard to access from all the damage TO be able to take photos. Deep surge would probably indeed keep trees from snapping down low but 160mph+ winds easily shred and debark all of the above-water exposed portions of softwoods and this isn't evident in any available photos I've seen; I would LOVE to find some photos from where the eastern eyewall came ashore though! If anyone finds some PLEASE share them because I'd love to compare 160-175mph tree damage in Mississippi with similar winds in the deep tropics. All of the photos I have found are based on structural and tree damage seem to be in the 100-140mph zone probably east of the eyewall.

I can't provide any photographs, because I was just at 20 when Camille hit, and I can assure you I saw mile after mile of trees snapped like toothpicks. I lived in New Orleans at the time and from what I understand Camille had a very narrow diameter of hurricane force winds. I was with a volunteer group that drove into Mississippi for rescue and cleanup after that storm, and I was absolutely stunned at the miles of snapped pines I saw driving into the area we worked. I lived it, I saw it, and it made a permanent impression on me-- Camille was no fluke it was every bit of a 5 and while trees "can" be a decent indicator of damage, I feel that in areas where surge coming in can actually skew the results.. same goes for structural damage, and the landfall area of where Camille hit was totally devastated. With all due respect, I have to disagree with your assessment; but that's what makes the forum interesting. That said, I find eye-witness accounts who actually were there and were able to cover huge areas of the catastrophe first hand a little more reliable than photos of trees or even structures taken from one or another vantage point. They can help -- but they can't be the sole basis of evaluation. I will never forget that trip into Mississippi. Thanks!
.
A2K

[EquusStorm]

I can't provide any photographs, because I was just at 20 when Camille hit, and I can assure you I saw mile after mile of trees snapped like toothpicks. I lived in New Orleans at the time and from what I understand Camille had a very narrow diameter of hurricane force winds. I was with a volunteer group that drove into Mississippi for rescue and cleanup after that storm, and I was absolutely stunned at the miles of snapped pines I saw driving into the area we worked. I lived it, I saw it, and it made a permanent impression on me-- Camille was no fluke it was every bit of a 5 and while trees "can" be a decent indicator of damage, I feel that in areas where surge coming in can actually skew the results.. same goes for structural damage, and the landfall area of where Camille hit was totally devastated. With all due respect, I have to disagree with your assessment; but that's what makes the forum interesting. That said, I find eye-witness accounts who actually were there and were able to cover huge areas of the catastrophe first hand a little more reliable than photos of trees or even structures taken from one or another vantage point. They can help -- but they can't be the sole basis of evaluation. I will never forget that trip into Mississippi. Thanks!
.
A2K

A report like that makes me a lot more confident in Camille's extreme winds; I assumed there could have been an area of high end tree damage that just wasn't photographed so that definitely makes sense and it's good to have a first hand report that confirms this. No doubt the surge impact probably also made the tree and structural damage aspect very complicated as well. It's hard to make an accurate assessment based on an incomplete photographic record on a storm that hit two decades before I was born lol.

[EquusStorm]

Well since compiling this list and mentioning it's hard to compare subtropical pine forest damage a la Hugo and Camille without as much modern high def photo analysis as we get in the new millennium, Michael, Dorian, and Laura have happened, so it's probably time for an update lol

[Nuno]

I can say that from my Andrew experience, there were many lots with trees (mostly pines) in South Dade that resembled toothpicks even into the early 2000s. I can't recall if they were debarked or stripped, but they looked petrified in the sense that they were permanently just ruined.

[HurricaneEnzo]

This doesn't really fit the OP exactly but thought I would share. I can say the worst tree damage I have ever seen in the area I live was from Cat 1 Hurricane Florence. The combination of long duration winds and near 30 inches of rain caused absolute devastation. I have never seen so many uprooted and snapped off trees. I have probably experienced close to a dozen Hurricanes in my lifetime (some more powerful) and none of the others came remotely close.

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk

[tarheelprogrammer]

This doesn't really fit the OP exactly but thought I would share. I can say the worst tree damage I have ever seen in the area I live was from Cat 1 Hurricane Florence. The combination of long duration winds and near 30 inches of rain caused absolute devastation. I have never seen so many uprooted and snapped off trees. I have probably experienced close to a dozen Hurricanes in my lifetime (some more powerful) and none of the others came remotely close.

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Agreed, we came back to Southport, NC about 5 days after the storm and it looked apocalyptic. Worst damage I have seen in my life living in NC. ABSOLUTE DEVASTATION. Lots of homes flooded with their stuff at the road

[Shell Mound]

 https://twitter.com/BFMTV/status/1299212819099983872



 https://twitter.com/meteo60/status/1299244062311153666



 https://twitter.com/CirculoGloBal_I/status/1299164733510217730

[SootyTern]

The tree damage in those photos from Cameron looks more like Cat. 2 or 3. Most of those big trees are probably live oaks; they should've shedded all of their smaller branches with just the very largest boughs remaining (the basic structure of the tree) if the winds were 4 or 5. Can see a lot of variation in the outcome for the buildings based on construction; some of those larger buildings look pretty solid.