A Mount Vernon tree believed to have been planted by George Washington was chopped down by the powerful nor'easter that blew through the East Coast on Friday, officials said.
The 227-year-old tree, a Canadian hemlock, at the historical Virginia site that was Washington's home and plantation gave way to 60 mile-per-hour winds from the storm, according to WRC-TV.
"Today at Mount Vernon, strong winds brought down a 227-year-old Canadian Hemlock, as well as a Virginia cedar that stood watch over Washington's tomb for many years," the estate said in a statement on Facebook.
Rob Shenk, vice president of visitor engagement at the Mount Vernon site added a message about the tree on Twitter.
WRC-TV said the strong storm forced more than 2,800 flight cancellations Friday, mostly in the Northeast. The television station said Washington-area airports were still experiencing dozens of delays and cancellations on flights to Boston Saturday afternoon.
"Although a storm-to-storm comparison hasn't been completed yet, the National Weather Service agrees that we haven't had winds this strong, for this long, since Hurricane Sandy in 2012," WTOP-TV forecaster Matt Ritter said Friday on the station's website.
A gust at Washington Dulles International Airport was measured at 71 miles per hour, Ritter said, per WTOP-TV.
"Wind gusts of 50 to 70 mph — bad enough on their own," Ritter said, according to WTOP-TV. "But several hours in a row and sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph all day, that just puts a lot of wear and tear on the trees.
"A lot of trees just gave up after that much wind for so long, and there were a lot of power lines in the way on their way to the ground," he continued.
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