KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tuesday and Wednesday’s weather conditions are making for their own March Madness event, but experts say there are precautions homeowners can take to make severe weather more bearable.
“Sometimes, not heeding advice when there is an issue with the tree,” Mark McWhirt said of an issue he sees often.
McWhirt works for Everhart Tree Service in what he considers an around-the-clock job.
“I like to be off by about 4:30, but on those days, it might be 8 or 9 o’clock or wake up in the middle of night and have them go out,” McWhirt said. "It’s been a little more harsh this year. The weather’s been a little more colder. Then, when you mix the saturation with high winds, it seems we have a lot of those storms anyways, but it’s always concerning."
His crews are on standby for any damage overnight into Wednesday.
McWhirt’s biggest piece of advice for homeowners is to take advantage of the opportunity to get a fee estimate on their trees, no matter how long they've lived in their home.
“It can become pretty hazardous pretty quick,” McWhirt said. “Just because a tree’s stood somewhere for 65 years doesn’t mean it’s going to stand there for another 60. It’s hard to tell because your tree can look totally healthy, like all the leaves and foliage is on there, but there can be a hole, and that’s very concerning."
The worst case scenario is when a tree falls in someone’s yard or on a home.
A home’s interior is Paul Karr’s area of expertise. He works for Endeavor Home Performance LLC.
“The one thing is usually comes up on every energy audit is air sealing,” Karr said.
Karr said air leaks can be an issue for homeowners year-round. He demonstrated how easily air can enter and escape a home on a storm window.
“It’s very common,” Karr said. “I see that often where it just fell down a little bit and they couldn’t lock it, so they just gave up.”
Karr’s demonstration on storm windows also applies to doors. He has a blower door on one of the exterior doors in his home.
“The fan blows and pressurizes the house and measures how leaky the house is,” Karr said.
Karr also suggests getting an electric water heater, which reduces the chances of releasing carbon monoxide into a home, something that can also spread in a home if residents use a gas stove for heat.
With a sudden change in temperature like Tuesday into Wednesday, Paul said people can expect to see condensation on their ceilings and walls.
“Some of that’s just natural, and don’t worry, it’ll go away after the weather’s over,” Karr said. “But if it’s a recurring problem, maybe you need better ventilation in your house.”
Outdoors, experts like McWhirt don’t encourage waiting around.
“If you get somebody out there to look at your trees, it’s best to do that before a storm,” McWhirt said.
That, of course, means peeling back the final layer of preparation: expertise.
“It’s also really important to find a company that knows that they’re doing,” McWhirt said.
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KSHB 41 reporter Rachel Henderson covers neighborhoods in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties. Share your story idea with Rachel.
