Tornados damaged 8,215 acres of forestland with an estimated timber value of US$10.3m during February, a survey by the Tennessee state government has found.
State forester Steven Scott said potential timber losses to landowners could be exacerbated by secondary insect and disease problems, which could make the forests more prone to fires in the future.
The state forestry division conducted ground and aerial surveys over 13 of the most severely affected counties during the past two months.
It said much of the damaged timber may not be salvaged due to the relatively small amounts in individual landowners’ forest, or due to the damage characteristics such as breaking, splitting and twisting.