We live in Los Angeles. We don't know how old the ash trees are in our back yard, but we figure around 50yrs old. Recently we had a large wind storm and the tree cracked in half all the way down to the ground. I noticed a black powder-like substance inside a portion of the tree. I was wondering what this might be and if it could have been a possible reason for the tree breaking. I would also like to know, since the tree still looks like its healthy, if the tree would still survive or does it have to be fully cut down.