This Just In – Earlier this week, a tree fell across Lawrence Road near Occoneechee golf club, and did some scary damage to the car on which it landed. News reports said the occupants of the car were injured, but promptly received medical attention. I sure hope they’re ok.
This probably gave lots of folks the same reaction that I had – a shudder because I have been at that particular spot so many times on the way to play golf. Even if you’re just someone who drives around that part of Hillsborough, it’s a well-traveled road. That could have been any of us.
I had a very similar response when I saw at the end of March that the Key bridge in Baltimore had collapsed … in particular, after seeing that it had collapsed at 1:30 am.
In our too-many-to-count drives up to Connecticut to visit the family, we’ve been across the Key bridge many dozens of times. This thing is … after our children came into our lives, we elected to make the 11-12 hour drive to Hartford overnight, sacrificing our sleep (we were young) for the benefit of making most of a stressful drive with sleeping children in the back seat and less traffic in the overnight hours.
This meant that after a work week, we would eat a quick dinner, then be wheels up from Chapel Hill at about 7:00 PM, aiming to arrive at my in-laws at 7:00 am. This meant that we would very often be crossing the Francis Scott Key bridge between 1:00-2:00 am.
Chilling.
I don’t know what caused the tree in Hillsborough to fall when it did, but for the umpteenth time, I will say that as I drive along NC86 from the north side of Chapel Hill up into Hillsborough, I’m surprised that this doesn’t happen much more often.
The last time I complained about this, Piedmont Electric officials told me that most of the many, many trees that are resting on lines are actually doing so on lines for other utilities – phone and cable lines. That is no comfort to me as my concern driving past them is to wonder what day with bring the whisper of fate that causes them to drop onto the pavement in front of me.
When I asked whether/how their staff contacts whoever should be contacted to deal with the actual problem, I stopped getting responses.
When I consider the rather obvious changes in weather patterns in the last decade or so and the sheer number of trees that are dead and hanging on these lines or loom over them, I must ask … why aren’t we taking steps to keep these lines clear and prevent diseased trees from causing predictable damage?
I love being a tree hugging community, but shouldn’t we consider hugging our people as a higher priority? I’d like to ask each of our municipalities and the county consider what clearances and setbacks for new and existing roads is appropriate looking to the future with regard to extreme weather potential.
Next weekend is the start of hurricane season and we all know that prevention and preparedness are vital in minimizing injuries, loss of life and property damage. Let’s be smart. Let’s be ready.
Jean Bolduc is a freelance writer and the host of the Weekend Watercooler on 97.9 The Hill. She is the author of “African Americans of Durham & Orange Counties: An Oral History” (History Press, 2016) and has served on Orange County’s Human Relations Commission, The Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina, the Orange County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, and the Orange County Schools’ Equity Task Force. She was a featured columnist and reporter for the Chapel Hill Herald and the News & Observer.
Readers can reach Jean via email – jean@penandinc.com and via Twitter @JeanBolduc
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