Elderly woman crushed as ‘freakish’ winds uproot oak
“Freakishly high winds” in Cambridge yesterday have been blamed for ripping a healthy oak tree from the ground and crushing an elderly woman — who later died from her injuries.
The woman was critically hurt after the tree toppled on to her at a picnic table in Victoria Square in the Waikato town.
Emergency services rushed to the scene shortly after 10am, and the woman was “removed from the tree” by firefighters about 10.50am.
Police confirmed yesterday afternoon the woman had later died.
Visitors Richard and Trixie Millet had parked their campervan in front of the fallen tree in the Cambridge square about 10am, possibly just minutes after it hit the ground.
Two trees had fallen but at that stage no emergency services were at the scene and the pair were unaware a person was trapped underneath.
They walked to a nearby cafe, but when Richard returned to the campervan, firefighters were digging around the base of the fallen tree, presumably to free the woman.
“It was devastating that I wasn’t aware that someone needed help, that we could have called emergency services earlier,” he told the Weekend Herald.
Richard rushed back to the cafe and informed Trixie and the friends they had been meeting.
“[Richard] came back very pale and shocked,” Trixie said.
They later overheard people at the scene assuming it was they, in the campervan, who had been trapped.
The pair said they “felt deeply” for the woman and her family.
Waipa District Council said the tree, a healthy pin oak about 80 years old, was felled by “freakishly” high winds.
It had been pruned at the start of April and there had been no previous concerns about it, council group manager customer and community services Sally Sheedy said.
“Our concern and thoughts now are with the person who was trapped and we sincerely thank those who acted so quickly to help.”