Tree removal companies busy clearing downed trees days after Hurricane Helene

“I had an army of friends and I can’t tell you how thankful I am for my neighbors who came in and helped,” neighbor Sabrina Duncan told Channel 2′s Audrey Washington on Monday. “I sat yesterday, looking and not knowing what to do.”

Duncan and her neighbors said they are working around the clock to remove debris and other damage caused by Hurricane Helene.

“I had water up to my third step before it would’ve come into my house,” Duncan explained.

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In DeKalb County, crews worked to clear out two trees that fell on a home and onto the roof of The University Inn at Emory.

“One went that way and the other one hit our property here,” maintenance manager Miguel Nunes told Washington.

At Northside Tree Professionals, the phone rang throughout most of the day on Monday.

“A lot of people initially called for trees on the house. Now, we’re getting the trees in the backyard, across patios calls,” said manager Brian Hartman.

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Hartman said many tree removal companies are working in other hard-hit areas like Augusta.

But he said because his crews are mostly local, they’re working in and around metro Atlanta.

“This storm was a little different from what we usually get because it was so widespread. Down in the Chattahoochee River, we’ve done a lot of work, but really all over town,” Hartman explained.

Duncan said she’s focused on getting things back to normal and salvaging what matters, starting with her kids’ Christmas pictures.

She finally found them floating in a box in her basement.

“It was full of water, the bin that it was in, but somehow they survived,” Duncan said.

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