Leah May Walker says she had recently had someone over to look at the trees in her yard, and had a few that were marked to come down. Then on Tuesday, a gust of wind blew and she heard a huge crash. One of the trees, a hemlock, growing in a row along the edge of her property came down and took a corner of her home’s roof with it, landing on the back deck.
Arborist Shane Tweeten says the winds this winter are reminiscent of 2006, when hurricane force winds brought down 41 hectares of forest in Stanley Park.
Seeing buildings damaged by fallen trees, he says, is not uncommon or unusual.
“Certainly these big gusts of wind combined with the extra weight of snow does make more trees come down,” says Tweeten. “As a homeowner, you really need to be pro-active about bringing down trees. Often, when I tell people a tree needs to come down they say, but I love that tree. Nobody loves a tree after it’s hit their house.”
