The tree will die a slow death as the EAB literally eats the tree just under the bark. Tree owners will first notice branches or tree sections dying over a year or two. After that, the tree will fight to survive by sprouting suckers on the largest branches and at the base of the trunk. This sucker growth is a sign that the tree is in the final stage. Ash trees that have died from an EAB infestation are particularly brittle. If dying trees are left standing and subjected to high winds or an ice storm, the result could be a catastrophic drop of limbs and in some cases entire trees. Considerable damage has been suffered by houses and vehicles beside the dying ash trees, and neighborhood power outages become common from ash limbs dropping onto electric lines. The City of O’Fallon is recommending that residents have ash trees removed when the trees are showing 50% death of the tree structure. The 50% criteria coincides with research that demonstrates when an ash tree is subjected to this amount of decline, the tree’s fate is irreversible.