Piles of tree debris still loom large around Cape Region

There’s a landscaping supply company not too far from the Cape Gazette office. Typically, the only time I think about it is when I’m heading back to the office and there’s a truck, with a big trailer attached, waiting to make a left into the business’ parking lot.

More recently, there’s been a growing pile of tree debris that’s caught my attention. I noticed it beginning to grow in the days following the late-February snowstorm that knocked down a lot of trees and tree branches. For the past six weeks, the pile has continued to grow like there’s a giant beaver making a new home.

I stopped by the company the other day because I was interested to see if the business could quantify how much tree debris has been hauled to its yard since the storm. I was unsuccessful, but I was still interested to see if there was a way to quantify how much tree debris was caused by the February storm. I reached out to the Delaware Solid Waste Authority, which has a number of sites throughout the county where tree debris and yard waste can be dumped.

Mike Parkowski, DSWA’s chief of business and governmental services, said DSWA doesn’t have separate categories for yard waste and tree debris. However, he was happy to provide the total tonnage of yard waste for all of DSWA’s locations in Sussex County for the period first quarter of 2025 and 2026.

In 2025, there were about 223 tons of yard waste in January, 191 tons in February and 564 tons in March.

In 2026, there were about 504 tons of yard waste in January, 146 tons in February and 2,031 tons in March.

Parkowski was hesitant to attribute the 260% increase in the year-over-year tonnage for March to the storm in February. Besides storms, there are a few factors contributing to yard waste, he said, pointing to an increase in land-clearing projects, normal wear and tear on trees and more construction projects.

I agree with Parkowski that these factors can play a role in a surge of yard waste, but not 250%. If the pile at the landscaping supply company is any indication, the surge in March this year can mostly be attributed to the February snowstorm because the number doesn’t even count all the trees knocked over that haven’t been cleaned up yet, or never will be.

If not for snow, not much precipitation this year

According to the running precipitation amounts the Gazette publishes with every issue, if it weren't for the late February snowstorm and another snow event in late January, the area would be well below the normal amount of precipitation for the first three months of the year.

The data says the normal amount of precipitation through mid-April is 10.79 inches, but there’s only been 10.16 inches. That’s not too much of a discrepancy, but in mid-February, the data had the area’s precipitation at nearly 1.75 inches above the normal amount – 7.04 to 5.31. Since then, it’s slowly reversed course.

Adding to the shortfall this year is that the area started at a deficit. The same dataset published in the first edition of 2026 provided the totals for all of 2025. The normal amount comes in at 43.79 inches, but there were only 41.38 inches last year.

I don’t have much to add to this. It’s really just food for thought and something to keep an eye on. I do know that my three 50-gallon rain barrels need some water, though.

Joke of the Week

It’s allergy season here in the Cape Region. Fortunately, all the pollen in the air doesn’t bother me too much. I can’t say the same for others in my immediate family circle; we have the boxes of Claritin to prove it. Here’s a joke that I hope does its part in clearing out those stuffed-up noses. As always, send jokes to cflood@capegazette.com.

Q: Why did the flower giggle?

A: The bee was pollen on its anther.