Since Hurricane Hermine is coming onshore soon, there is bound to be a lot of damage to trees across the Southeast.  Here is an interesting article from Inside Science on how and why trees break.  In the case of a hurricane, a lot of tree damage also comes not from the tree breaking but being uprooted.  Wet soils can fail to support the tree roots, leaving them vulnerable to tip over in moderate to high winds.  A lot of the tree damage from Hermine may well come from the uprooted trees because of the heavy rainfall that is forecast (or has already started falling) along the path.

Source: Jibi44, Commons Wikimedia via Science
Source: Jibi44, Commons Wikimedia via Science
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