‘Whopper’ tree falls out of the blue in park
A hefty English oak that collapsed onto a picnic table and riverside footpath in Hamilton has council staffers scratching their heads.
There wasn’t a breath of wind when it fell, yet a dry start to summer could be to blame.
The 15- to 20-metre-high tree was one of many ‘‘significant trees’’ planted around Memorial Park to honour soldiers that fought in the first and second world wars.
‘‘We really don’t know why it came down at this stage,’’ Hamilton City Council spokesman Nigel Ward said.
A local Hamilton man who walks along the river every weekday heard the crash from the opposite riverbank about 8am yesterday.
Paul, who declined to give his last name, said it was lucky noone was walking on that section of the path because they would’ve been flattened.
‘‘It made a hell of a noise. And I would have been 300 metres from where it went [down].
‘‘I thought there had been a major car crash or something like that because I couldn’t hear a chainsaw going.
‘‘I normally walk basically right underneath that tree.
‘‘It’s a whopper, an absolute whopper . . . They would have got squashed.’’
Paul speculated that the trunk was heavy with water after a rainy night and unsupported by dry soil.
‘‘What amazed me is there was absolutely zero wind, it’s just fallen over.
‘‘There was no wind there whatsoever this morning.’’
A ‘‘summer branch drop’’ was coined for the phenomenon of limbs dropping off trees after prolonged hot spells, according to the Telegraph.
Beeches, oaks and horse chestnuts were among the most susceptible.
During a 2015 drought in California, a 22-metre-high pine tree snapped and fell to the ground without any obvious explanation, NBC Los Angeles reported.
But Botanic consultant Frank McDonough said a freshly watered tree can suck water up and into its limbs while humidity stops the evaporation process.
Branches can become heavy and snap off or cause the tree to topple, he said.
By 9.30am yesterday, Hamilton City Council city parks arborists were cutting into the tree with chainsaws.
The wood would go to a local community group.
‘‘At this stage our tree crew is out there just making it safe and secure in the area,’’ Ward said.
‘‘It has possibly come down because of the really dry conditions that we’ve had because it’s quite sandy sort of soil on the edges of the riverbank there.
‘‘The long hot and very dry summer could be a contributing factor.’’