We had several years of extreme drought a few years ago and while the results were easy to see on the fur trees the effect took several years for the oak trees to finally die as a result. It was too much for the old oaks and others to survive. It's a condition they call root rot and was caused during the drought and causes the tree to rot at the base from the center out. These trees look like beautiful healthy trees until they fall. Even though the base of this red oak is completely rotted you can see a couple of feet up the wood is fine. Sad.

Mike