EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – High winds on Sunday caused severe damage to the Borderland after several large trees were uprooted and knocked over on top of homes, vehicles and businesses.

With more winds occurring on Wednesday and Thursday, local arborists are providing tips so that homes and other structures stay safe.

On Sunday, homeowner Gaby Ferro returned home to her large tree in her backyard uprooted and destroyed not just her backyard but also her neighbors. She explained that she did maintain her tree but is shocked the winds were powerful enough to knock it down.

“I watered it gave it that maintenance making sure that it stayed green, it stayed alive because I do know that dead trees cause a lot more damage than live trees, but I was watering it keeping it nice and green.” said Ferro.

Jacob Salgado is the owner of The El Paso Arborist and has been in business for over 3 years. His business provides tree services to the Borderland such as tree pruning, trimming and removal.

Salgado explains that if owners have any trees on their property, they should get them checked by a professional at least once a year so they can determine if they need to remove anything to keep it in code. Heavy growth will become an issue if not maintained correctly and will cause weaker roots.

What Salgado wants to emphasize on is proper pruning of the trees to make sure they do not cause damage in the future. Proper pruning includes assessing what limbs need to be chopped down in order for the tree to grow healthier.

Another option for homeowners is to completely remove the tree but as Salgado explained, it depends on many different factors.

“Sometimes we are trimming trees merely for aesthetics sometimes we are clearing property lines or powerlines uprooting the tree it just depends on the type of tree where its located.” said Salgado.

However, if a dead tree is discovered on your property, Salgado says your first and safest option should be complete removal.

“People should remove a dead tree as soon as possible a lot of people will call us, and they just want to cut back in hopes that it will come back its not coming back so if its dead its dead and we should remove it as soon as possible.” said Salgado.

For local and breaking news, sports, weather alerts, video and more, download the FREE KTSM 9 News App from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store