Woman sleeps after tree falls on house
AN ELDERLY Leongatha woman is lucky to be alive after a tree fell on her house on Saturday.
The 87 year old was woken by the sound of the tree falling but thought it was thunder and returned to sleep, despite the tree falling just five metres from where she was sleeping.
The tree wrecked the roof and kitchen of the home in Mary Rogers Crescent, where residents have been calling on South Gippsland Shire Council to address the safety risk posed by tall gum trees in McIndoe Park, which adjoins homes in the crescent.
The tree that fell at about 3am or 4am Saturday was in McIndoe Park and residents are concerned more trees could fall, risking further lives.
The woman’s daughter, Anne-Maree Calder, said the tree fell in heavy wind but said her mother would be without a permanent home for months until her home is repaired.
“She’s 87 years old and I do not think she needed to find a big hole in her ceiling at that hour of the night. She did not find out until the morning,” Mrs Calder said.
“She was rattled but she’s stoic and handled it OK.
“She was lucky she was not killed and it is something urgent I think the shire needs to look at.”
Mrs Calder said her family is concerned about the risk of further trees falling, given a limb from a gum in McIndoe Park fell on her mother’s shed and fence 10 years ago.
“They do not call the trees ‘widow makers’ for nothing,” she said.
A council spokesperson told The Star, “As with any incident of this nature, council will review the current risk assessment of the trees in the park.
“Relevant staff from our Parks and Gardens team and Risk and Procurement team will conduct the assessment to determine the safety of the remaining trees as soon as possible.”
Volunteers from the Leongatha unit of the State Emergency Service spent about five hours at the house, removing the tree from the house and yard, and securing a tarp to the damaged roof.
Major damage: an elderly lady was fortunate to escape injury after a tree fell on her Leongatha home on Saturday.
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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Oct 3 2017. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
