On Friday, January 12th, 2007, a major ice storm hit the St. Louis area, with St. Charles being one of the most impacted areas. Overnight, at about 12:30 AM Saturday, the power went out, and for the majority of homes in St. Charles Hills it remained out until the afternoon of Tuesday the 16th.

This storm deposited enough ice on many trees to cause their long untrimmed branches to snap, and resulting in damage to homes, utility lines, and other structures. A number of the falling branches fell on power lines, causing a power outage in the entire subdivision lasting three and a half days!

Almost all of this damage was completely preventable!

Homeowners must trim their trees so that the trees can withstand the weight of ice and the force of the wind, and not break. Sure, there is a cost involved, but the costs to clean up and repair the damage are far greater, for you and for your neighbor. Insurance may not cover all repairs, and your rates may increase.

Be a good neighbor. Trim your trees.

A nicely trimmed tree can withstand almost
any amount of ice without breaking.


Untrimmed trees, however, can cause damage and
can be dangerous to anything underneath them.
(This is a park entrance!)


This happened to many trees:


This happened in a number of places:


Same fence:


One unlucky homeowner had damage to
both their carport and pool!


Tuesday, January 16th, 4:00 PM, power restored. Ready to call it a day...