ELKHORN, Neb. (KMTV) — While houses continue to get rebuilt post Arbor Day tornado in the Ramblewood neighborhood, some neighbors' focus has shifted to the next thing needed to bring this place back to life: trees.
- With the help of a grant from the Urban Nature Alliance, AAA, and the Arbor Day Foundation, 15 trees are being replanted, with more to come.
- It's a small next step, but it's one that will help Ramblewood neighbors like Karen McGuire feel at home again.
- The Urban Nature Alliance says they'll be back here this fall for more replanting.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Lots of change in this Ramblewood neighborhood over the last year. While houses continue to get rebuilt post Arbor Day tornado, some neighbors' focus has shifted to the next thing needed to bring this place back to life: trees.
It's a small next step, but it's one that will help Ramblewood neighbors like Karen McGuire feel at home again.
Seeing what happened to the neighborhood, what was that like going through that?
"It was devastating," said McGuire.
Karen has lived here with her husband for over eight years, and while damage to their home was minimal; "After the tornado, losing all that tree canopy, it felt naked; it felt exposed."
Now, with the help of a grant from the Urban Nature Alliance, AAA, and the Arbor Day Foundation, a few trees are being replanted, with more to come.
"This is a neighborhood where, as we were working here, we really realized that people love their trees. So many of the neighbors had three, four, and five trees in their yards that came down because of the tornado,” said Diana Failla, the executive director of the Urban Nature Alliance.
"Out of all the neighbors, I've only talked to one person whose insurance covered anything about the trees, and that's part of what makes a house a home,” said McGuire.
With the loss of trees over the last year, the Urban Nature Alliance says there is no wind barrier, there's more noise coming from traffic on West Maple, and heat islands have increased.
"I mean, it was just so hot because your ratio of green and shade to concrete changed because there are no trees, right?" McGuire explained.
Rebuilding the canopy will bring back some of those protections neighbors want.
"Growing back is hard, and it takes time. If you start from just a seed, it's going to take a long time, so getting a mature tree with leaves that can give you shade is a huge deal,” McGuire added.
While this tree planting event was a success with 15 trees planted, it's not the end. The Urban Nature Alliance says they'll be back here this fall for more replanting.
