Post-tornado Urban Reforestation
A Case Study of Urban Reforestation Efforts a Decade After Tornado Destruction of a Southwest Virginia Community
In April 2011, an EF3 Tornado passed through the southwest Virginia community of Glade Spring, carving a path of destruction 20 miles long with wind speeds nearing 140 mph. In this rural residential setting, there were hundreds of shade trees populating yards and streetscapes that were damaged or destroyed. Most large trees along the tornado’s path were completely delimbed by the extreme winds, leaving behind snags with no viable option other than to cut them down completely. As a result, the community forest was severely depleted, leaving barren landscapes lacking shade and green amenities. To assist with the recovery of Glade Spring’s community forest, the United Way of Russell and Washington Counties obtained a grant in 2012 to distribute trees to the affected communities in Washington County.
Tornado Category
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Over 400 homes and businesses were heavily damaged or completely destroyed, resulting in over $78 million in losses. Three fatalities and 52 injuries were documented. Damage and destruction of trees, homes, businesses, and buildings were widespread in the community. Community members documented the destruction they experienced, gaining the attention of the media. Scroll and click through community member images to experience the tornado damage.
Petro Fuel and Truck Service
The Glade Springs Petrol Station was one of the hardest-hit areas as it was within the EF3 zone where wind speeds were between 136 and 165 mph. The travel center is used by many truckers as a rest stop while traveling on Interstate 81. The truck-stop chain offered fuel, food, and travel amenities such as lodging, showers, and laundry rooms. During the tornado, the center, gas station, truck service station, and many trucks were damaged.
Images Courtesy of Black Diamond Search and Rescue Council
Stagecoach Road
Off of Interstate 81, Glade Spring is a suburban town with predominantly residential properties. Many residential homes were significantly damaged or destroyed during the tornado. Trees under intense winds and in close proximity to houses fell onto buildings, damaging much of their exterior. After an experience like this, home owners are often understandably wary of planting trees close to their residence.
Image Courtesy of Black Diamond Search and Rescue Council
Our Father's House Bookstore
Many businesses were damaged by the tornado as well. These images highlight many experiences of tree damage to surrounding buildings both residential and commercial. The store identified the fallen tree in the images as a 140 year old Maple tree.
Courtesy of Our Father's House
Appalachian Plastic Inc.
Glade Spring is also home to many industrial businesses such as Appalachian Plastic Inc. and Utility Trailer Manufacturing. These businesses were economically affected by their places of operation being physically damaged. This image shows damage to Appalachian Plastic’s building and surrounding environment.
Image Courtesy of Black Diamond Search and Rescue Council
Interstate 81
Interstate 81 is a major north-to-south highway that runs through a portion of the eastern United States. Glade Spring is located on Exit 29 of I-81 and is a gateway into Southwest Virginia from the north. Many economic influxes come from traffic from the Interstate as people stop to refuel and rest. This image shows damage to a directional sign from southbound Exit 29.
Courtesy of Black Diamond Search and Rescue Council
Virginia Creeper Trail
The Virginia Creeper Trail is a recreational trail through SWVA that is used for walking, biking, and horseback riding. The trail is widely used by the local community and a portion was within the tornado path. The images above show how the trail's aesthetical value was influenced by the forest loss, as once beautiful views were now a reminder of destruction.
Images Courtesy of Jennifer Gagnon
One year after the tornado event in Glade Springs, Virginia, as a part of the United Way Glade Springs Reforestation efforts, the United Way sought out to distribute trees of various species to the local community in the aim to restore the tree populations. Kevin Sigmon, the local arborist for Abingdon, worked with the organization to distribute the saplings in the 2012 tree giveaway. The sapling giveaway was advertised to the community through public communication, radio stations, and local television news. The giveaway was open to those affected by the 2011 tornado. The saplings given away were selected to be power-line compatible, 4- 5 foot, ornamental, flowering species. The species given away were: Flowering Dogwood, Eastern Redbud, Red Maple, Serviceberry, as well as others. The saplings were offered with a packet on how and where to plant the trees. Only 10-15% of the trees were given out, the remaining trees were sent back to the nursery. Overall, there was a poor response in the community due to it being “too close to the tornado event” for the community to be enthusiastic about replanting trees, according to Sigmon.
This map shows all the trees that were destroyed by the tornado or removed by people following the storm.
Glade Spring 2009 vs 2011
Glade Spring 2011 vs 2018
This map shows the overall change for each parcel from 2009 to 2018. Green parcels gained trees, yellow parcels had no net change, and red parcels lost trees.
Analysis
Our team used remote sensing to analyze tree canopy change using NAIP imagery of the community immediately before, after, and then at a more recent date relative to the tornado to determine how the community forest was affected.176 parcels in Glade Springs were selected based on family size, acreage, and proximity to the path of the tornado and a tree census was completed to find tree gain or loss over time.
This graph shows the number of trees present in each of the studied years.
It was found that adding to the residential and commercial damage brought on by the tornado, roughly 240 trees were lost. The gross tree count for the entire study population declined by 22% after the tornado and recovered to 93% of pre-tornado levels by 2018. Almost a quarter of the local trees were destroyed due to the tornado, however, that significant drop took over half a decade to fully recover to its previous state.
This graph shows the average number of trees on a parcel in each of the chosen years.
The average parcel lost 1.44 trees right after the tornado and recovered 1.04 trees from 2011 to 2018, however, there was a -0.40 tree deficit per parcel in 2018. The average parcel likely lost one or two trees and replanted at least one tree after the tornado. A distinct increase can be seen from the data that shows that the reforestation efforts partially succeeded in restoring the forests to their former state.
This table lists the total number of trees and the average number of trees on a parcel per year.
This table lists the mean and standard deviation for trees counts from year to year.
Conclusion and Importance
Glade Spring typifies many small communities interspersed between large metropolitan areas across Virginia. Vital information can be gathered for reforestation projects in other small communities around Virginia by retrospectively studying Glade Spring a decade after its reforestation project. This study could be used for reference in future natural disaster relief around Virginia in the context of reforestation. Strategies used in Glade Spring should be replicable in other small rural communities and can contribute to the knowledge of how rural communities are affected by natural disasters
