Tree services buzzing in storm cleanup

Communities across Long Island buzzed with the revving of chain saws and the grinding of wood chippers Monday as workers with heavy equipment labored to cut, dislodge and take away tree trunks and branches from houses, wires and roads.

While the work was a boon for their companies, they were scrambling to keep up with demand. The number of broken and torn trees such as oaks, pines and maples left by Topical Storm Irene represents the most widespread damage many in the tree business have seen in a decade.

"It's a mess out there," said James Wysocki, whose Cutchogue East Tree Service serves North Fork areas. "There are trees that snapped and broke, trees uprooted, trees still hanging on power lines, trees on houses, trees on porches. Just about everything you see in this business."

Joanne Klumpp said she is not seeing much of her husband, Ted, whose Bear Tree Services is "inundated with calls" in Port Washington. Even old customers whose trees had not fallen called. "People live with trees that they are a bit afraid of, and all of a sudden there is a lot of awareness," she said.

"It's going to be a couple of months before it all gets cleaned," said Klumpp, who couldn't talk any more because he had "a 1,000-pound piece of pine hanging at the end of the boom" in Roslyn Heights. Klumpp has been in the tree business since 1968.

Companies were prioritizing, first removing trees on houses, then tackling those on power lines and blocking roads.

Removing a tree could cost anywhere from $1,000 to $20,000, according to Jim Menning, manager at Off the Top Tree Service in Lindenhurst.

To cope with demand, tree companies have called in extra people. Some were able to hire back former employees who were jobless.

Menning's company doubled its workforce from 15 to 30 men and provided overnight accommodations so workers could get going at dawn.

"Our main concern is we are trying to help," Menning said. "We are trying to get Long Island back on its feet."

Homeowners from shore to shore were counting on them.

In Huntington Station, Gary Meskill was roused from bed by his dog's wild barks at about 3:30 a.m. Sunday. Then followed a loud crack and the fall of his 75-foot-high pine tree.

Despite calls to police, the town and the electric company, the tree still hung from power lines and blocked traffic on Bennett Avenue Monday.

"Do you know how hard it is to get a tree crew to do anything right now?" said Meskill, 51. "They are like the most wanted people around."