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What are the chances that an arborist will knock on your door five minutes after a huge tree collapses, crushes your car, and damages your home?
It’s exactly what happened to Julie Farrant during the high winds that hit Taranaki on Tuesday morning.
Nigel Cash, manager of horticulture and arborism at Atawhai Industries, had been visiting one of his neighbors to discuss a tree removal when he came across the old rewarewa on top of Farrant’s VW Tiguan and his home in Brooklands New Plymouth.
“I went and took my card to the lady and said, ‘If you want, I can take care of this.’
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Jane Matthews / Stuff
Metservice posted a severe weather warning in Taranaki from 4 a.m. Tuesday to 3 a.m. Wednesday, expecting the southern gales to reach 120 km / h in exposed locations.
Cash was one of many specialists still clearing the mess caused by the gusts, which reached more than 100 kilometers per hour and wreaked havoc in the north and the coast of Taranaki, blocking roads and cutting off power to hundreds of homes.
It’s something you “see on TV,” Cash said of the scene, which had blocked the path outside the New Plymouth mother’s home.
SIMON O’CONNOR / Things
19-year-old Atawhai Industries intern arborists Jayden Green and Julius Lehndorf are working to clean up the mess on the Brooklands property.
Farrant, who has lived there for 10 years, was about to walk out the door when he decided to make himself a cup of tea and toast before leaving.
Before he had a chance to take a bite, he heard a loud crack and crashed outside.
She thought it was an earthquake but it was the falling tree.
SIMON O’CONNOR / Things
Cleanup is expected to take two days.
“I was very scared,” he said Wednesday.
Then Cash knocked on his door.
“This knight in shining armor appears,” said Farrant. “I said, ‘I think you have the job.’
Within 15 minutes, a team was clearing the way for the vehicles, and they returned Wednesday afternoon to work to move the rewarewa and cut down other trees that could have been a hazard.
The work is expected to take a couple of days.
SIMON O’CONNOR / Things
Farrant is simply glad that no one was hurt in the ordeal.
Originally, Farrant thought his home was clean, but has since discovered some damage.
The tree also hit her husband’s Jeep, which is her pride and joy, and has left her car at a “total loss.”
“You can’t drive,” he said. “Put it this way: it has a tree running through it.”
Farrant said she was overwhelmed by the kindness of the people and was simply glad that no one was hurt in the test.
“You can’t replace them.”
Farrant said they had the trees checked a couple years ago and they were fine.
“It’s one of those things, isn’t it?” He said. “With winds of 130 km / h, nobody is protected.”
SIMON O’CONNOR / Things
The Trick Tree Specialist team worked to clear Ridgewood Dr, just outside of New Plymouth, on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in the region, contractors were still working Wednesday and would be for some time, Tricky Tree Specialists owner Brendon Bellamy said.
“There were crews last night,” Bellamy said Wednesday. “And I was woken up during the night by a couple of phone calls.”
Bellamy couldn’t say exactly where he had been working in New Plymouth and the Taranaki coast, but said they had been cleaning state highways, highways, power lines and more.
SIMON O’CONNOR / Things
Bellamy said they had been called in for a variety of jobs and that the work would continue for a while.
Elsewhere in the region, contractors were still working Wednesday and would be for some time, Tricky Tree Specialists owner Brendon Bellamy said.
“There were crews last night,” Bellamy said Wednesday. “And I was woken up during the night by a couple of phone calls.”
Bellamy couldn’t say exactly where he had been working in New Plymouth and the Taranaki coast, but said they had been cleaning state highways, highways, power lines and more.
“This is what we are prepared to do,” he said. “It’s our bread and butter.”
Bellamy said his teams were working hard all day, while he did the paperwork and brought them coffees.
“I didn’t take a chainsaw,” he laughed.
Powerco also spent Wednesday reconnecting power to several hundred people in Taranaki after nearly 7,000 lost power the day before.
Tom Kitson, Taranaki and Manawatū operations manager for Asplundh NZ tree specialists, said Tuesday was “busier than usual” and stability would continue for the next few days.
“We are delighted to be here helping,” Kitson said.
