Vinton continues to clear damaged trees, plant new ones

VINTON - Broken trees still can be found in this town of 5,000, ten months after a storm packing 100-mph winds blew through in the middle of the night.

“We estimate that, maybe, 80 percent of our trees were damaged on July 11,” Mayor John Watson said.

A gravel lot in town is filled with busted branches and thick tree stumps. Several upcoming events, including Party in the Park, the Vinton Cruise, RAGBRAI and the county fair, will put the town on display and Watson said he is hoping much of the debris will be cleared away in time.

“(The pile) has gone down dramatically in the last couple of weeks,” Watson said. “It's here for the taking. We are very proud to be a family-oriented community and we want to make our community shine for 15,000 people riding their bicycles.”

Watson said people who need wood for heating have benefitted from the damaged trees, and some have stocked up on firewood for two or three years.

The town also has begun to replace the trees lost to the storm. Volunteers gathered Saturday at the Vinton Public Library to help replant 42 trees near the library and Riverside Park.

“Every single neighborhood took an extreme beating on that storm,” Watson said. “We haven't got many people who have major, major damage left. We've been very fortunate, too.”