As Butler County's "Ike Cleanup" continues — a task likely to take weeks if not months — most people understandably are dealing with the concerns of the present rather than being worried about uncertainties that might lie ahead.

But as cleanup work winds down, government officials and property owners shouldn't consider their work done. On a couple of important fronts stemming from Sunday's windstorm, work will only be able to begin.

Besides the obvious evaluations of how government, emergency services and utilities responded to the emergency and aftermath, and determining what changes might improve the response to a future emergency, all in this county would do well to acknowledge a concern voiced by Bart Spagnola, area manager for Penn Power Co.

"Someday in a few weeks, there will be a clear, blue sky and the power will go out," Spagnola predicted.

Spagnola was referring to trees that were stressed or damaged by Sunday evening's storm — trees that remain standing but that are destined to fall because of their weakened condition.

An important task for local governments, property owners and municipal and state Department of Transportation crews in the weeks and months ahead is to look for potentially dangerous tree conditions.

While there might not be thousands of trees that merit concern, it must be expected that, based on the severity of the windstorm, there are some that fit that category and need to be addressed — by trimming or removal — sooner rather than later.

Addressing such situations is made more urgent by the fact that windy winter weather is not very far in the future.

An occurrence during last weekend's storm testifies to that need. Karen L. Sarnosky, 59, of West Sunbury was driving on Route 38 in Oakland Township at 9:50 p.m. Sunday when a wind-damaged tree fell onto her car.

Fortunately, Sarnosky escaped serious injury, although she was treated at the hospital.

Damaged or weakened trees along roadways are a prescription for trouble, especially when the wind picks up. But weakened trees can be dangerous at any time; they can fall without warning.

Such occurrences might be rare, but fatalities resulting from falling trees are not unheard of. And events like Hurricane Ike increase this danger referred to by Penn Power's Spagnola.

Going into Sunday evening, few area people imagined the potential damage and inconveniences that Ike would bring. Certainly no one expected the long-term power outages that thousands of people in this county would have to endure, which have forced many people to throw away previously frozen food or live without water, because their wells depend on electricity.

Many residents and officials, because of the continuing emergency, haven't had time to think about what might be beyond the current situation. That's understandable.

But when all of the immediate problems are fixed and officials are determining which responses met expectations and which did not, it will be time to start looking beyond what has been experienced.

That's when Spagnola's words of caution should be reviewed.

The potential for Ike-related problems won't necessarily be gone, just because everyone's power has been restored and all roads have been cleared of debris.

For months to come, the best advice will be to remain alert and observant — and not be hesitant about telling someone about conditions that might be hazardous.