BRANDON - From his front windows, Frank Everhart watched his neighbor's laurel oak grow more than 60 feet tall, casting a long shadow over his one-story home.
He had considered that it could topple, but thought it would take more than a strong gust of wind to lift the mighty oak from its roots. Frances' winds were blowing softly Sunday morning, when a tremendous crash startled residents on South Bryan Circle in Brandon. In a matter of seconds, the roots anchoring the oak had lifted completely out of the soggy soil.
Thousands of pounds of limbs and branches thundered onto Everhart's house, where no one was home. When neighbors called him, Everhart could muster only a shaken laugh.
"I've been here 20 years," he said, noting he now had limbs in seven rooms. "I don't know how many times I've looked at that tree and thought, "Man, if that thing came down ... ' "
He still was shaking his head on Friday, as workers removed from his roof the oak that had been growing for more than 50 years. Its massive ball of roots rested on the surface of his neighbor's lawn.
Across the region, massive oaks toppled like match sticks when Frances blew into the Tampa Bay area last weekend. Many of these sturdy trees did not stand a chance against even Frances' weakened winds, because the soil around their roots was as slippery as putty.
David Reilly, Tampa's forestry examiner, said the phenomenon is called friction failure.
Usually, the soil's friction helps to anchor a tree's roots in the ground. Strong winds may crack off limbs, but rarely will an extensive root system slip out of the earth.
The scenario changes when the soil is wet.
"When there's not as much friction, it's easier for the tree to come down," Reilly said.
Tree experts said this happens along the east coast after heavy rainfalls and hurricanes.
Saturated soil typically isn't enough to make a large tree fall. But after this summer's intense rains, a decent gust of wind could push many trees over with relative ease.
Laurel and water oaks are particularly vulnerable, because their compact crowns can trap the wind, said Bob Der, a forester with the University of Florida's cooperative extension office in Hillsborough County.
During Frances, scores of oaks in Hillsborough toppled as a result of the wet conditions, city and county officials said. They have not yet completed the damage counts. But Der predicted more trees would fall if Hurricane Ivan brought significant wind and rain to the Tampa Bay area.
"Each one of these storms kind of takes its toll," Der said. "We're really changing the looks of the landscape."
Residents can do little to prevent trees from falling in saturated conditions. Before hurricane season, experts said pruning could help, but only if a certified arborist tackled the job. The wrong cuts could exacerbate problems.
Once a large tree falls, it's usually down for good, even if the root remain intact.
In Brandon, Everhart's neighbor, Wayne Phillips, isn't taking chances. During Frances, three oak trees fell in Phillips' yard. One narrowly missed his house. He moved his car minutes before it would have been smashed by the oak that destroyed Everhart's roof.
Should Ivan come to the Tampa Bay area, Phillips offered this advice: "Anybody with big trees in their yard, they need to evacuate," said Phillips. "I saw what could happen."
Projected path