Storms on April 27 resulted in 28 large trees being uprooted at the Children’s Home/Chambliss Shelter.
Staff Photo by John Rawlston/Chattanooga Times Free PressEverywhere Phil Acord looks he sees fallen 100-year-old trees as big as tractor-trailers.
“It’s a lot of trees,” said Acord, executive director of the Children’s Home/Chambliss Shelter. “We don’t budget for something like this. You don’t budget for a natural disaster.”
The Children’s Home/Chambliss Shelter has 28 trees littered across a disc golf course and biking trail in the back of the property. The trees fell April 27 when a deadly series of tornadoes left a trail of devastation through the area.
TVA workers came out one day a few weeks ago and cut up some of the trees. Almost 40 people tried helping the shelter, but in the end there was just too much, Acord said.
Katie Harbison, director of development for the Children’s Home/Chambliss Shelter, said the organization also has another problem – insurance won’t pay for most of the work. Only five trees fell on structures, mostly fences, she said.
Insurance will pay to remove those five, but that still leaves 23 large trees that need to be removed.
Acord said prices quoted to him were about $30,000.
Some trees are chopped up where the TVA workers left them. Others are scattered, upended with their roots laid bare.
One tree is toppled across a children’s playground.
“This playground is still unusable,” Harbison said. “We have a long way to go before it’s safe for the kids.”
The Children’s Home/Chambliss Shelter has two missions. The facility takes care of children of single parents while they are at work. The home also cares for children placed in state supervision.
She said the home has put itself on a list to receive volunteer help, but so far has heard nothing. Children’s Home/Chambliss Shelter has two maintenance men but not enough manpower to cut and haul out the trees, she said.
“It’s just such a big job,” Harbison said.
Acord stood atop a hill overlooking the damage Friday. Plenty of trees still remain, but toppled giants are blocking pathways and play areas where kids play disc golf and ride their bikes.
“We need to get [the mess] out of here,” Acord said.