Milwaukee County tree cleanup; broken branches, limbs everywhere

MILWAUKEE COUNTY, Wis. - There’s no clear end in sight for tree cleanup after the winter storm earlier this month.

Broken branches and scattered limbs left littering spots in Milwaukee County.

"We definitely bore the brunt of, as I said, what I’d call the worst storm in my career of 25 years," said Jeffrey Gollner, land resources supervisor for Milwaukee County Parks.

The inches of snow that hit the area earlier this month occupied both roads and resources to clean up downed trees. 

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"We had three different crews, which responded on that Saturday for 12 hours, just to clear roadways," Gollner said.

Trees down at the Milwaukee County Zoo

Gollner said now as the snow melts away, county crews are still left dealing with the damaged and discarded tree parts.

One of the hardest hit areas in Milwaukee County is on Root River Parkway, where there were 33 road obstructions alone.

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Gollner said cleanup costs have surpassed $100 thousand, not including the cost of damaged trees.

The Milwaukee County Zoo is another area dealing with the impacts.

Trees down at the Milwaukee County Zoo

"We had 27 trees come down throughout the night and into the morning," said Milwaukee County Zoo director of facilities Matthew Haseman.

He said that's an unusual uptick from the four trees knocked down last winter.

"I’d think we’re probably going to throw $60 to 70 thousand worth of man hours at this problem," Haseman said.

That's money that is already allocated in their budget, but it'll take months of work to get it cleaned up.