City Trees

with an active tree board, a professional and responsive City structure, and a solid emer- gency action plan. Therefore, the City had ade- quate protocols in place to manage the tornado response and minimize the chaos that is often associated with a major storm event. Ottawa had a tree ordinance in place that banned tree topping and it had a registry for all companies doing business within its borders, including tree care companies. The result was no topped trees and fewer problems with "fly-by-night" chainsaw operations; all commercial chain saw operators had be bonded and insured. IPWMAN deployed immediately to assist its longstanding community member of Ottawa with tornado response. IPWMAN was the most significant driver of successful oper- ations during this tornado incident. The team provided urgently needed barricades to secure safety of the affected areas. 5 Upon arrival of IPWMAN, Ottawa Public Works Director Gary Scott requested diversion of crews to Naplate, since 80% of that city's center was devastated. Instead of diverting resources, IPWMAN initiated a second inci- dent response for Naplate, as Ottawa already had City crews readied and working with the fire department in the southern portion of the City, clearing downed trees alongside Ameren Power Company to make the area safe for response teams. Ottawa was able to retain the additional equipment they needed to handle such a massive undertaking. In addition to the IPWMAN response, many municipal units outside of IPWMAN offered aid. Several of these were turned down early on due to the limited working space avail- able because of utility crews working in the area. Eventually, IPWMAN had enough assets available to fully meet the response needs. 5 IPWMAN agencies supplied a total of 2,686 man-hours (equivalent of 67 man-weeks) of labor. Using FEMA equipment rates, the equip- ment supplied totaled the equivalent savings of $148,285 USD ($194,892 CAD).5 In addition to IPWMAN, IDOT provided 857 hours (equal to 21.4 weeks) of labor over the course of three days. Using FEMA equipment rates, this is labor valued at $56,766.00 USD ($74,608 CAD). 5 Naplate Response. With an 80% impact on its city center, Naplate needed all the >> Proud IPWMAN members with a mulch pile generated after a Network storm response. Wauponsee Township crew members show up to help Naplate and Ottawa with the aftermath of the 2017 tornado. www.urban-forestry.com 23

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