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Crews clean up downed trees across Portland metro area

A crew from Rich's Tree Service said snow-packed limbs coming down on cars, decks and houses are making up most of their calls.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Tree removal crews stayed busy on Tuesday, cleaning up after a historic storm brought several inches of snow to the Portland area overnight Sunday into Monday. 

On Tuesday afternoon in Gresham, a crew from Rich's Tree Service cleaned up what was left of a tree that came down on a property on the city's south side. Before that, the crew was near Southeast 35th and Belmont where a tree came down on a house.

"It was about 32 inches in diameter," Caleb Gillum said. "A fairly big tree."

Gillum, of Rich's Tree Service, said he and his team have been extremely busy since Monday morning. Most of the calls have involved snow-packed tree limbs coming down on houses, decks and cars.

"We've been getting a mass influx of calls over the past couple of days," Gillum said. "We don't have enough guys to keep up with it."

Credit: Mike Benner, KGW staff
A crew from Rich's Tree Service cleans up a downed tree in Southeast Portland.

Fortunately, Rich's Tree Service is not the only company in town.

KGW spotted a crew working near Southeast Cesar Chavez and Ankeny. The owner and head arborist at Buds Expert Tree Care told KGW his team has also been busy. None of this comes as a surprise to Gillum.

RELATED: Multnomah County will open severe weather shelters Tuesday

Credit: Buds Expert Tree Care
A crew from Buds Expert Tree Care working in the Portland metro area.

"This area was hit pretty hard, this Southeast area, hit pretty hard, but we're seeing damage throughout Portland," Gillum said. 

In the coming days we may see even more trees coming down with the possibility of more snow.

"If you see low hanging branches or whatever stay clear of those if they have weight on them," Gillum said. "If you have a way to knock snow off or something with a stick or broom stick or something, that's what I do at my house. Keep those branches from breaking."

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