AUSTIN, Texas — George Daszko is a landlord whose houses sustained damage during the ice storm this month. One tree fell on a property, knocking down the chimney and crushing part of the porch roof. Another tree fell on his other property, puncturing the roof in about four places.
"My son sent me a text, you know, with pictures of the fallen trees, and you know, I didn't recognize it was my property. I said, 'Where is this?' He said, 'It's on our house,'" Daszko said. "After the rain and all the water that got into the insulation and all that weight, a couple of bathroom ceilings just collapsed. So just happened it's my daughter's apartment too."
Now, he is tending to the homes, estimating the damage is somewhere between $60,000 and $80,000.
"I went down a list of about 10 different tree services and, out of the 10, two didn't respond at all. The ones that did answer were willing to schedule appointments to handle it, but they were all a week or two out," Daszko said.
Roberto Ramirez owns Robert's Tree Service, which offers services like tree removal and tree trimming. Since the ice hit, he said his business has gotten at least 150 calls.
"We're a little frustrated with the driving time. Like, right now where we get rid of the waste, there are places that are taking two hours to get rid of the waste. Driving all around the city of Austin, from north to south, west to east," Ramirez said.
Texas A&M tree specialist David Appel warned this week's wind could create more problems.
"Assuming you are in an area where there was a lot of ice buildup and there was a lot of limb breakage, then if you haven't cleaned up those limbs by now, they could still be hanging on," Appel said. "And the structural integrity of the tree could be was probably extremely compromised by the ice, so we would consider these trees to be hazardous."
Appel warned that it's extremely important that people take care of the hanging limbs and branches as soon as they can – a task that is taking a toll on Texans like Daszko.
"I'm just tired of playing lumberjack. I want this all to go away," Daszko said.
Residents are asked to be aware of their surroundings while walking or out in the yard. Do not leave pets or kids alone under trees and also avoid parking under trees.