Recent record-breaking winter storms and freezing temperatures have created dangerous conditions in parts of the U.S. and caused billions in damages. One moment shows just how quickly road conditions can change.
The clip, shared by the Louisiana State Police on Facebook, highlights a lesser-known winter storm danger: frozen trees collapsing onto roadways.
In the caption, state police urged residents already facing snow, ice, and freezing rain to "stay home until conditions improve."
The video shows a state trooper's dashcam recording a tree bending under the weight of ice before suddenly crashing across a two-lane highway in Natchitoches Parish. Still images showed police vehicles blocking traffic to prevent further danger.
"Winter weather hazards extend beyond icy roadways," the department wrote. "Freezing temperatures can weigh down trees and power lines, causing them to break off or fall."
Frozen trees and branches can fall when freezing rain creates heavy ice coatings, and water within the trees can freeze and expand, or even crack the tree open. For tree owners looking to prevent that, wrapping the tree with tree wrap can help provide some insulation and "hopefully reduce the likelihood that [the tree] is going to reach that critical temperature (-20℉) at which it cracks," Bill McNee of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources told NPR.
Incidents like this show how conventional infrastructure in areas like the southern U.S. often fails in the face of supercharged weather events largely driven by human activity, which disrupts the natural carbon cycle.
Downed trees and power lines can knock out power, delay emergency response teams, and leave residents without heat in freezing temperatures, as in Tennessee earlier this year. Road closures also interrupt supply chains, school schedules, and access to medical care, disproportionately affecting rural and low-income communities, according to the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit.
As unusual winter weather becomes more common — whether unprecedented snow droughts or surprise freezing temperatures — local governments and residents are being forced to adapt infrastructure and emergency planning to keep residents safe.
Most users who reacted online were safe at home, but others shared their own experiences with frozen trees.
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$200 or more 💰 On the r/Louisiana Reddit forum, one local shared photos of the damage caused by the weather and wrote: "It looks like a tornado came through most places. My neighbor's shed had a tree come down and flatten it."
"The amount of trees falling and limbs snapping is too damn high," another Reddit user commented. "SNAP-CRASH, it's unsettling."
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