1. Storm Debris Assessment Tool
i-Tree Storms
Storm Debris Assessment Tool
Eric Kuehler
Technology Transfer Specialist
USDA Forest Service
This was presented at a series of three i-Tree workshops (Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, and St. Augustine) in November This presentation was geared toward the pre-storm application of the Hurricane adaptation.

2. Hurricanes
Florida is no stranger to hurricanes. Whose community was not affected by the hurricanes of 2004 and 2005? Was your community prepared for those hurricanes?

3. Do you have a plan? 2004-2005 Hurricanes
How much debris was generated by the hurricane in your city? How difficult was the debris clean-up effort? Why was it so difficult? Did you have the space to store it all until something could be done with it? Did your city have a tree emergency plan or a debris clean-up plan?

4. What is i-Tree Storms Spreadsheet-based interactive tool
Pre-storm analysis for planning purposes
Tree removal and pruning hours and costs
Debris amounts and hauling costs
Potential based on number of trees and size per total street miles
Post-storm analysis
Estimation of number of trees needing to be removed and pruned and hourly estimates
Estimation of debris volume and costs to haul
i-Tree Storms is an interactive tool that can be used two ways. First, as a pre-storm analysis tool, it can help a community get an idea about its potential vegetative debris costs so that it can plan. Secondly, as a post-storm analysis tool, it can help a community quickly estimate the amount of vegetative debris it has after a storm passes.

5. What is i-Tree Storms Originally designed for ice storm debris
Debris generated by ice differs from wind
Ice – debris falls straight down / no C&D
Wind – debris carries and not just vegetative
i-Tree Storms Hurricane adaptation
Currently in beta testing
Initiated by Escabedo and Marcus
Uses real debris data from real FL cities
i-Tree Storms was originally developed for ice storm debris estimation in the Northeast. Debris generated by ice events is different from debris generated from wind events. The hurricane adaptation which is in beta testing was initiated by Franscisco Escabedo and Charlie Marcus. This model uses debris data from 10 FL cities that were affected by the hurricanes of

6. What is i-Tree Storms Uses randomly selected street segments
For tree counts by size class
For debris volume estimates
Data collection
Paper
PDA
Calculations
By hand using the supplied data sheets
Excel spreadsheet template
i-Tree Storms uses a sampling methodology to estimate number of trees and debris volume per street mile. Data can be collected using the supplied data collection sheets in the user’s manual or by using electronic devices such as PDA’s. Calculations to determine number of trees to remove or prune and to estimate debris volume can be done by hand using the multipliers provided on the data collection sheets, or the data can be entered into the excel spreadsheet template which does the calculations automatically.

7. Basic Steps in Developing an i-Tree Storms Project
Preliminary information
Creating the project in i-Tree Storms
Collecting field data
Transferring data to template
Communicate results
There are five basic steps in creating a Storms project.

8. Basic Steps in Developing an i-Tree Storms Project
Preliminary information
Creating the project in i-Tree Storms
Collecting field data
Transferring data to template
Communicate results

9. Preliminary Information
ID your area of interest
Region
County
City
Stratify area ?
Residential
Commercial
Industrial
The first thing to do is to identify the boundaries of the project. A city would most likely use its city limits as its boundaries. To improve accuracy, it may be beneficial to stratify the area of interest into land use zones. A separate project would need to be created for each stratum if you choose to stratify.

10. Preliminary Information
Isolate affected area using GIS layer or paper map
Stratify into land-use areas (i.e. residential, commercial, industrial, etc.) if needed
Randomly choose street segments from each stratum
Obtain length of each street segment (ft) and total street miles in affected area
Here is an example of using a GIS street layer in an isolated stratum to randomly select street segments. Street segment lengths for all selected segments will need to be known (in feet) as well as the total miles of streets for that stratum.

11. Preliminary Information
Pre-storm data collection ?
Debris potential
Potential clean up costs
Development of storm plan
Who and How will data be collected?
In-house or contracted out
Volunteer labor from tree boards?
Paper or electronic (PDA)
Do you want to collect data before a storm event? I like this because it gives you some indication as to the potential for debris that you have as well as approximate costs of clean up. This information is necessary for developing a storm plan.
Do you have the staffing to collect data along streets or will you have to contract it out? Maybe you can tap into your eager tree boards or scouts.
Collecting data on PDA’s is very convenient, but I like the paper collection method to limit data loss.

12. Preliminary Information
Estimate time needed for pruning/removal
By size class
Storms uses default values if unknown
Estimate cost of debris hauling per yard
Estimate hourly rates
Removals
Pruning
Contractors will have this information
You will need to know, generally, how much time it takes to remove and prune trees by size class, how much it costs to pick-up and haul debris, and how much it costs per hour to remove and prune trees. Sit down with your contractors before a hurricane hits to sort this out.

13. Basic Steps in Developing an i-Tree Storms Project
Preliminary information
Creating the project in i-Tree Storms
Collecting field data
Transferring data to template
Communicate results

14. Creating the Project in i-Tree Storms
User’s Manual can be found
C:\Program Files\i-Tree\STORM
i-TreeUsersManual_STORM.pdf
Create a new project for each stratum
Save data in separate files
St_Augustine_residential.xls
St_Augustine_commercial.xls
St_Augustine_industrial.xls

15. To open the Storms template: Start > All Programs > i-Tree > Storms > Storm Template (xls)

16. Basic Steps in Developing an i-Tree Storms Project
Preliminary information
Creating the project in i-Tree Storms
Collecting field data
Transferring data to template
Communicate results

17. Collecting Field Data Tools to take in field Paper data sheets
Map of street segments
Paper data sheets
One for each segment
Clip board
Biltmore or d-tape
For eye calibration
Pencils

18. Collecting Field Data 23 Winter Park - Commercial Park Ave. Main St.
Elliot St. 23
11/14/09
526 50 EK 5
Here is an example of how the field data collection sheets should be filled out. The plot length (or street segment length) should be in feet (not miles). One collection sheet will be used for each street segment. 3 1 1 2

19. Collecting Field Data 16” 8” 12” ROW 8” 8” 10” 20”
For the pre-storm analysis you will only collect data on trees on the rights-of-way by size class. 8” 8”
10”
20”

20. Basic Steps in Developing an i-Tree Storms Project
Preliminary information
Creating the project in i-Tree Storms
Collecting field data
Transferring data to template
Communicate results
Enter data from the collection sheets into the template or download data from the PDA.

21. Basic Steps in Developing an i-Tree Storms Project
Preliminary information
Creating the project in i-Tree Storms
Collecting field data
Transferring data to template
Communicate results

22. Communicating Results
Every city is different. Communicating this information will depend on the dynamics of the city government.
Now What?

23. Communicating Results
Present estimates to Mayor, City Council, City Manager
Emphasize the need for a storm plan
Temporary debris storage facilities
Develop storm fund reserves for clean up
Find which departments have storm plans
Where do trees fit into those plans?
Talk with county EMA about a storm plan
Potential debris volume

24. Communicating Results

25. Storm Debris Assessment Tool
i-Tree Storms
Storm Debris Assessment Tool
Questions, Comments, Discussion
Eric Kuehler
Technology Transfer Specialist
USDA Forest Service