“That’s the kind of thing that neighbors do here.” Friends in North Austin removed downed trees from neighbors’ roofs, while closer to the city core, volunteers rushed to meet the immediate needs of people without homes.
, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.AUSTIN — The distant whine of chainsaws pierced the nonstop plops of ice falling from hanging tree branches as friends and neighbors dragged limbs across lawns, tossing them into wet piles along the streets of Balcones Woods.
Practically the whole neighborhood, which encompasses about 500 homes, has been out of power since 5 a.m. Tuesday, Calder said. Home prices in Balcones Woods hover just above theDressed in a brown beanie and a tan Carhartt work jacket, Calder had just finished dissecting a tree branch from Aaron Nightingale’s backyard with a borrowed chainsaw.
Thomas Calder, 14, examines a branch that landed on a set of monkey bars at the playground behind the Balcones Woods neighborhood community center on Feb. 2, 2023.Trees cracked under the weight of accumulated ice after multiple days of freezing rain, which transformed parts of the Texas Hill Country into aMarilyn Butler said that massive limbs from a heritage tree, which she estimated to be over 400 years old, came crashing down in her backyard on Wednesday, taking out part of her fence with it.
Sasha Rose, the organizing director for Austin Mutual Aid, said many residents of the city who do not have homes have been pushed further into the woods since Austin voters chose toFalling trees pose a much bigger risk to people in tents than to those with a roof over their heads. Rose said she’s heard of limbs falling on people.
With partners, Rose and her team at AMA helped put 30 people, mostly families, in hotels around the city. But with limited resources, Austin Mutual Aid can provide only so much support to the unhoused community in the city.
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