It Could Have Been Me

Last week 2 guys from Colorado died when a cottonwood fell on them. Last week I was standing under my cottonwood tree for a couple of hours with a limbing saw removing dead branches. I was sitting in the kitchen having lunch and I heard very loud craaaackkkk and then a loud progressive rumbling. A huge 14" diameter limb just broke off and fell exactly where I was standing last week - I would have been toast. There were no big winds - it just snapped under the weight of all the leaves and sheared off 3 more limbs below it on the way down. It also demsonstrates that these events happen all the time. Whether you are an unfortuante victim of natural hazards is totally random - just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Brittle Cottonwoods are definitely a hazard.