Panama City creating a pathway for environmental growth nearly 4 years after Hurricane Michael
By
Thomas Leffler, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Apr 28, 2022 11:20 AM EDT
|
Updated Apr 29, 2022 5:54 PM EDT
Hundreds of trees are snapped in pieces on Tyndall Air Force Base following Hurricane Michael on Oct. 17, 2018, in Panama City, Florida. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
How does one of Florida's famed vacation destinations recover from devastation? For the citizens of Panama City, the answer is one tree at a time.
In October of 2018, the vicious Hurricane Michael clobbered the Florida Panhandle, becoming the first Category 5 hurricane to do so in the state's beleaguered weather history. The most severe impact took place on the coastline, where Panama City and its more than 36,000 residents bore the brunt of the catastrophic impact. Brutal winds, rain and storm surge took a drastic toll with multiple fatalities, as well as the destruction of the local environment.
Approximately 80% of the area's tree canopy was destroyed in Bay County, home to Panama City, creating millions of dollars worth of harvestable timber loss. Mass tree loss and deforestation, according to The Humane League, can lead to several ill aftereffects such as zoonotic diseases and food insecurity. According to WJHG, the city has also experienced an uptick in flooding since the majority of the trees were lost.
The devastation wrought by Michael left Panama City in a bind, one that prompted the beginning of the city's ReTree PC initiative. Starting its work not long after Michael hit, ReTree PC was created with the goal to unite the community one tree at a time. Through collaboration with a network of volunteers, ReTree PC is aiming to plant 100,000 trees in the Panama City area by the year 2025.
"It behooves both the city and the citizens that we serve to help replace that canopy," said Panama City quality of life director Sean DePalma, who helps guide the ReTree PC efforts.
The Panama City ReTree PC initiative brings members of the community out for tree planting sessions in local parks, helping to replace the 80% of tree canopy lost during Hurricane Michael. (Photo/Sean DePalma)
To mark the annual celebration of Arbor Day, the organization is once again hosting a "tree care workshop" to raise local awareness. Each year, ReTree PC hosts the event to educate the public on subjects such as protecting tree roots, tree planting and tree pruning. All participants in the workshops take home a seven-gallon Winged Elm tree, helping cultivate plant life back in the community.
The workshops, DePalma said, are for the general public's knowledge, as well as extra training for specialists and city employees that aid in ReTree PC.
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"We want our staff to be really qualified and knowledgeable on how to maintain and mitigate ... tree care, and tree health," DePalma told AccuWeather in an interview. "We're not just planting trees; we're planting them the right way, planting them in the right place."
One part of the Panama City population DePalma emphasized is the youth demographic, which is learning about the positives of planting, such as prevention of erosion on the waterfront and protection from vicious storm surges.
A satellite image showing Hurricane Michael making landfall near Mexico Beach, Florida, on Oct. 10, 2018. (NOAA)
(NOAA)
To keep track of the 100,000-tree goal, ReTree PC received a grant worth $40,000 from the United States Department of Agriculture in order to implement iTree. The iTree technology tracks and maintains a "tree census" in the city, allowing the organization to keep abreast of the numbers of planted trees and their locations.
The iTree census technology works not only for public land but for private properties as well, which is where much of the tree canopy loss took place during Michael.
"As we develop new properties [in Panama City], and larger developments come in, we'll start to add it to the [iTree] database," DePalma said. "It's not only where the tree is, but there's a classification of condition to the tree, there's identification to the tree. What type of tree, what size it is, how our maintenance is going on that specific tree. There's a component of the tree program that gives an estimate of impact on how that tree is helping us."
Panama City’s ReTree PC initiative gifts trees to local residents, in order to flourish private properties with forestry. (Photo/Sean DePalma)
Thus far, ReTree PC has planted approximately 8,000 trees in public areas, such as local parks. While the trees are new, some tangible impact has already begun to be seen in the Panama City area.
"We've already started to see [progress] ... trees are living beings," DePalma said. "We lost, of that 80% [of tree canopy], a tremendous amount of trees that were 80 to 120 years old throughout some of our neighborhoods. We're starting to see very small improvements, but we'll start to see larger improvements as we move through time and these trees really grow and solidify."
Correction: This story previously stated that Hurricane Michael occurred five years ago. This coming October will mark four years since the hurricane’s landfall in Florida.
For the latest weather news, check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform.
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News / Climate
Panama City creating a pathway for environmental growth nearly 4 years after Hurricane Michael
By Thomas Leffler, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Apr 28, 2022 11:20 AM EDT | Updated Apr 29, 2022 5:54 PM EDT
Hundreds of trees are snapped in pieces on Tyndall Air Force Base following Hurricane Michael on Oct. 17, 2018, in Panama City, Florida. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
How does one of Florida's famed vacation destinations recover from devastation? For the citizens of Panama City, the answer is one tree at a time.
In October of 2018, the vicious Hurricane Michael clobbered the Florida Panhandle, becoming the first Category 5 hurricane to do so in the state's beleaguered weather history. The most severe impact took place on the coastline, where Panama City and its more than 36,000 residents bore the brunt of the catastrophic impact. Brutal winds, rain and storm surge took a drastic toll with multiple fatalities, as well as the destruction of the local environment.
Approximately 80% of the area's tree canopy was destroyed in Bay County, home to Panama City, creating millions of dollars worth of harvestable timber loss. Mass tree loss and deforestation, according to The Humane League, can lead to several ill aftereffects such as zoonotic diseases and food insecurity. According to WJHG, the city has also experienced an uptick in flooding since the majority of the trees were lost.
The devastation wrought by Michael left Panama City in a bind, one that prompted the beginning of the city's ReTree PC initiative. Starting its work not long after Michael hit, ReTree PC was created with the goal to unite the community one tree at a time. Through collaboration with a network of volunteers, ReTree PC is aiming to plant 100,000 trees in the Panama City area by the year 2025.
"It behooves both the city and the citizens that we serve to help replace that canopy," said Panama City quality of life director Sean DePalma, who helps guide the ReTree PC efforts.
The Panama City ReTree PC initiative brings members of the community out for tree planting sessions in local parks, helping to replace the 80% of tree canopy lost during Hurricane Michael. (Photo/Sean DePalma)
To mark the annual celebration of Arbor Day, the organization is once again hosting a "tree care workshop" to raise local awareness. Each year, ReTree PC hosts the event to educate the public on subjects such as protecting tree roots, tree planting and tree pruning. All participants in the workshops take home a seven-gallon Winged Elm tree, helping cultivate plant life back in the community.
The workshops, DePalma said, are for the general public's knowledge, as well as extra training for specialists and city employees that aid in ReTree PC.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
"We want our staff to be really qualified and knowledgeable on how to maintain and mitigate ... tree care, and tree health," DePalma told AccuWeather in an interview. "We're not just planting trees; we're planting them the right way, planting them in the right place."
One part of the Panama City population DePalma emphasized is the youth demographic, which is learning about the positives of planting, such as prevention of erosion on the waterfront and protection from vicious storm surges.
A satellite image showing Hurricane Michael making landfall near Mexico Beach, Florida, on Oct. 10, 2018. (NOAA)
To keep track of the 100,000-tree goal, ReTree PC received a grant worth $40,000 from the United States Department of Agriculture in order to implement iTree. The iTree technology tracks and maintains a "tree census" in the city, allowing the organization to keep abreast of the numbers of planted trees and their locations.
The iTree census technology works not only for public land but for private properties as well, which is where much of the tree canopy loss took place during Michael.
"As we develop new properties [in Panama City], and larger developments come in, we'll start to add it to the [iTree] database," DePalma said. "It's not only where the tree is, but there's a classification of condition to the tree, there's identification to the tree. What type of tree, what size it is, how our maintenance is going on that specific tree. There's a component of the tree program that gives an estimate of impact on how that tree is helping us."
Panama City’s ReTree PC initiative gifts trees to local residents, in order to flourish private properties with forestry. (Photo/Sean DePalma)
Thus far, ReTree PC has planted approximately 8,000 trees in public areas, such as local parks. While the trees are new, some tangible impact has already begun to be seen in the Panama City area.
"We've already started to see [progress] ... trees are living beings," DePalma said. "We lost, of that 80% [of tree canopy], a tremendous amount of trees that were 80 to 120 years old throughout some of our neighborhoods. We're starting to see very small improvements, but we'll start to see larger improvements as we move through time and these trees really grow and solidify."
Correction: This story previously stated that Hurricane Michael occurred five years ago. This coming October will mark four years since the hurricane’s landfall in Florida.
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For the latest weather news, check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform.
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