Tree companies swamped following derecho in Des Moines area

URBANDALE, Iowa — In the Karen Acres neighborhood tree trucks and utility trucks rumble down the streets. Piles of branches line the streets, waiting to be picked up.

“Non-stop text and phone calls nonstop all day and night,” said Tim Roney, of RR Tree Service. Roney recently retired from a job in an auto repair shop. Now he, and son Adam, are hard at work getting branches off of rooftops. Roney tells people the truth when it comes to how soon he can get to him.

“This is what I got ahead of me and this is where you’re in line, if you can find somebody faster, I understand,” said Roney.

Removing branches is something of a delicate job, rather than chopping it down and letting it fall, Roney uses ropes to let the branches down.

“So you’ve got to be real careful on these branches on houses,” said Roney. “Hopefully there’s a branch or something that’s higher than the branch on the house, and you can tie it off so then when you cut it, you can drop it.”

Roney says he enjoys this kind of work.

“It’s outdoor work, it’s my only exercise,” said Roney. “If I didn’t do this I’d weigh four hundred pounds, I just I enjoy doing it all.”

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