EdgeA small amble through the #NCArboretum today showed the gardens looking very much like a normal spring, but the trails (those that are open) still indicating the damage from Helen, 18 months ago.
A stretch of trail has opened that we haven't seen since Sept 2024, and it is still heartbreaking. They have been removing downed and damaged trees everywhere for almost 18 months, so the change in canopy is going to be extreme.
After the hurricane they had estimated they lost 6,000 trees, but I would imagine they've raised that estimate.
This was very dense forest before the storm.
2/2 #NCArboretum
Jeri Dansky@czarbucks The flowers are lovely, and so sorry about the trails. What a loss that's been. ☹️
It's just so sad.
It feels like it did seeing what happened to Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, FL after hurricane Charley (and then Jeanne.) It was so incredibly beautiful, and those huge oaks were just shredded, and the azaleas crushed. It was a Frederick Law Olmsted garden.
Even afterward it's still beautiful, and the tower itself wasn't damaged. But it was hard to go back and see it later.