Storm Preparedness of Urban Forest

In October of 2018, the City of Doral Public Works Department (PWD) applied for the 2018 Florida Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry Grant, which offers up to $25,000 as a 50-50 matching grant for projects such as Replacement of Canopy due to Storms, Public Tree Inventory or Assessment, Community Storm Preparedness Planning, and Informational and Educational programs for Storm Preparedness. On January 29, 2019, the City was notified of the award of $17,500 in grant funding to complete an Informational and Educational Storm Preparedness Program of Urban Forestry.

The PWD requested authorization from the Mayor and the City Council to issue a work order to BCC Engineering, Inc / E Sciences, Inc. for the development and to conduct a citywide Informational and Educational Storm Preparedness Program to outreach to residents on the importance of trees and how to properly maintain them in order to make them more resilient to storms and hurricanes and prevent damages to private property. The educational program targeted residents and homeowners associations (HOA) to educated them on how to maintain a healthier community urban canopy which can potentially reduce damage during storms by providing windbreakers, improving stormwater management, reducing runoff, and controlling erosion.

The consultant developed an educational brochure, posters, bus bench signs, and a power point presentation (PPT) that was presented by the consultant during the regular HOA meetings to ensure that their landscape contractors conducted proper maintenance for a resilient urban canopy. The City also developed a public service announcement (PSA) to create awareness on the importance of proper tree maintenance and preservation in preparation to the upcoming 2020 Hurricane Season which starts on June 1st, 2020.

“This public service announcement (PSA) is made possible in part through a grant from the USDA Forest Service in cooperation with the Florida Forest Services and the City of Doral”