bannwart: the storm in Newark 
3 
THE STORM IN NEWARK, N. J., OF WEDNESDAY 
SEPTEMBER 21ST 
By Carl Bannwart, Superintendent, Shade Tree Bureau, Newark, N. J. 
The storm of Wednesday, September 21, was by all odds the worst we 
have ever experienced in 35 years of continuous street tree administra¬ 
tion in Newark. We have been visited by high winds every year, but 
the number of trees blown over upon 300 miles of streets, 600 miles of 
frontage and in the city parks, once a year, were rarely more than a dozen 
or twenty. 
Our total loss of street trees within city limits in the hurricane was 977 
trees. In the private grounds the total was 918. Very few trees came 
down in the city parks. One County Park within the City limits, lost 
180 trees in an instant. The entire Park became impassable in the 
twinkling of an eye. 
When the hurricane struck us about 2:30 in the afternoon, two tele¬ 
phones in our offices, became constantly busy in taking down addresses 
of trees fallen across the streets or leaning on wires or buildings. The 
City Hall telephone switchboard handled the overflow and the Police 
Headquarters also took addresses of such casualties and relayed them to 
us in lists. Thus, four telephone lines were busy continuously from the 
time the storm hit, about 2:30 P.M. until 6:00 P.M. After that, distress 
messages were received at the homes of Director Byrne and Deputy 
Director Masini—and also the home phones of the Superintendent and 
the Forester. 
The wind was not solely responsible for the damage. The successive 
days of heavy rains had loosened the earth. The fact that we had an 
unusually long growing season, which produced heavy crowns of foliage 
were also contributing factors. These full crowns made large sail areas 
affording leverage to the wind, particularly on the high trees. The 
weakly and scant-foliaged trees stood fast. 
Three shade tree gangs, consisting of 23 men, under experienced 
foremen, sprung into action immediately, working until 3 A.M. Thirty- 
seven (37) experienced men were added to our force on the 22nd. They 
worked continuously from daylight until dark during the ten succeeding 
days, including Sundays. 
Our first concern was to clear the right-of-way—open the streets and 
sidewalks to traffic; enable the people to enter their homes. Trees 
leaning on buildings were our first consideration. We had only one 
