Photo Gallery: Superstorm Sandy Strikes Bethlehem

Staberdearth November 1, 2012 at 01:08 am

I note that quite a few of the trees that have fallen down are in that extra special city zone, the narrow area between your sidewalk and the curb that the city seems to require extra dispensation to have cut down. Lots of trees simply do not support a root structure and merely fell over from the wind stress. Tree trimming and cutting operations need special permits to cut in this zone. The city is also supposed to limit the planting of select types of trees in this zone which apparently appears to be a hollow gesture as I see more junk and weed trees planted by home owners and the city says nothing. They want it both ways. No cutting what are clearly at risk, old, and unstable trees and the allowance of fast growing weed trees that uplift sidewalks and crack curbing. Also there is far too much leniency on folks who insist upon continually planting trees up through power line cuts and after trees are cut down, usually by Asplundh, they are planted anew in the exact same spots!

Sunita November 1, 2012 at 07:35 am

My home on seip road in Hanover township hit hard, the siding from the north of the house blown away, the main entrance door and window in dining room started leaking.
shingles came off the roof. and screen door on the patio blown away.

Staberdearth November 1, 2012 at 10:12 am

Glad that you are OK. Storms like these only highlight the state of repair of our houses or expose the poor construction techniques by contractors. Some storm damage to homes is simply bad construction technique, period. Granted, some situations, no matter how strongly built or quality built your home is, will still suffer damage. For example flooding (poor home siting) or weak trees that fall on homes, also poorly installed vinyl siding doesn't exactly hold up in even moderate winds like what we got in this storm. A lot of it is poor construction practice and folks wanting big square footage but want to skimp on building materials.