With Nina Cola:
Q: How sturdy are palm trees against a tropical storm or hurricane?
An established healthy palm will withstand a storm like Hurricane Debby without serious problems. Depending on the palm, the leaves might shred or bend at the petiole, but not sustain significant damage that would require replanting. Palms have hundreds of fibrous roots that anchor them in the group, nicely, and the trunks of palms have their vascular tissue randomly distributed throughout the trunk. They don’t run perfectly straight up and down, they “snake” their way through the trunk, and gives the palm trunk high flexibility and more resistance to breaking when compared to typical trees, like oak trees.
Q: What are the signs that your palm tree has survived or not survived? What should homeowners look for?
In this case, unless the canopy falls off, it should be fine if the palm looks similar to its appearance before the storm. It may be possible for fungal pathogens to make their way into the canopy, combined with excess rainfall, but this likely won’t manifest for a while. In an extreme event -- let’s say the canopy is completely shredded -- if you see the spear leaf expanding in the following month, the palm is fine; it just needs time to recover.
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