Winds of change: tornado and hurricane impacts on Louisiana forests

Abstract

Severe wind events have devastating impacts on forests throughout the United States. Events such as tornadoes and hurricanes can destroy standing timber, produce stresses that impact wood quality, and leave debris that leads to susceptibility to additional impacts. Data for tornado and hurricane occurrences was obtained and the width of these storms calculated using Geographic Information Systems software. The storm tracks were then used to extract impacted forested pixels in Louisiana to determine the acreage impacted, by forest type, within the State. Approximately 238,000 forested acres have been impacted by tornadoes (~3,000 acres per storm), with EF-2 tornadoes impacting the greatest acreage; hurricanes have impacted the State’s forests multiple times, with tropical storm force winds impacting the greatest acreage. These preliminary results will be incorporated with inventory data and damage reports to develop a risk index to forests in Louisiana.

Parent Publication

• Proceedings of the 20th Biennial Southern Silvicultural Research Conference

Citation

Crosby, Michael K. 2020. Winds of change: tornado and hurricane impacts on Louisiana forests. In: Bragg, Don C.; Koerth, Nancy E.; Holley, A. Gordon, eds. 2020. Proceedings of the 20th biennial southern silvicultural research conference. e–Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS–253. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station: 177-181.