Island tree removal company 'can't keep up' with calls after Dorian

An Island tree removal company says it can't keep up with the number of calls it's been getting since post-tropical storm Dorian hit P.E.I. 

Jerry Arsenault, the owner of Branch Manager Tree Service, said he's had more than 1,000 calls since the storm. 

"They just keep coming and it's kind of overwhelming," he said. "You just can't keep up."

Arsenault said his company is putting non-urgent calls on hold at the moment so it can focus on more pressing cases like trees that have fallen on houses and power lines. 

"We had a lady that was crying one day … she couldn't get back into her house," he said.

"We had to rush over … there was a big poplar [tree] leaning over the house."

Waiting game

Arsenault said he won't be able to get to any calls considered non-urgent until around December.

"Before the storm, the calls were mainly somebody wants a tree trimmed or a tree gone before the winter," he said.

"But now, it's the tree's broken, the tree's split, the tree's leaning. It's coming out of the ground and it's going to fall on the house. People are pretty worried."

Arsenault said it's a waiting game for those who still have trees on their property but can't get a company lined up.

"If it's not leaning, if it wasn't damaged from the last storm, well, you know, chances are it'll stay there," he said.

"These storms don't come every month."

CBC spoke with a number of other tree removal companies that said they're also very busy. 

The provincial Department of Transportation said it's trying to help homeowners by taking calls from Islanders who still need help with tree cleanup.

It said it plans to start sending out crews this week.

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