The afflicted area stretches from northern Värmland and the Mälardalen region to northern Jämtland and Ångermanland. Northern Hälsingland, western Medelpad and southern Jämtland appear to be the worst affected areas.

Certain limited areas have suffered considerable damage but the overall damage is significantly less severe than after hurricanes Gudrun and Per. The Swedish Forest Agency in collaboration with forest companies and forest owners associations has estimated the total damages to 4-5 million cubic meters which in the most afflicted areas represent some 25 % of annual fellings. Most of the value in windthrown trees can be taken care of if the wood is harvested before summer.

The different forest companies are currently assessing the extent of the damage with a view to planning felling resources and recovering damaged timber. As much as possible of the storm-damaged forest should be felled before the summer to minimise the risk of impairment of the quality of the timber by spruce bark beetles and other pests. In the worst case the bark beetle infestation could become so severe that the beetles also attack healthy trees. It is therefore desirable that the Swedish Forest Agency should expand its northern pest control area for spruce bark beetle.

When felling storm-damaged trees safety considerations are paramount and the risk of injury is significant. We advise affected forest owners to use professional companies to recover windthrown timber.