‘Hell of a mess’: Downed trees rip up Gisborne fence and footpath

A tree estimated to be 35m high fell on to Nick Short's property and the Gisborne East Coast Cancer Society premises on Gladstone Rd, tearing up concrete and narrowly missing Short's house. Photo / Gisborne Herald

A Gisborne man had to take evasive action after two trees fell at his Gladstone Rd property, one of them narrowly missing his house, during Sunday’s storm.

The 100km/h-plus winds from ex-tropical Cyclone Vaianu brought down two trees, with one estimated to be 35m high, at Nick Short’s property located near the town side of the Lytton Rd-Gladstone Rd intersection.

Short noticed the winds picking up about 3pm on Sunday. He was speaking with his neighbour Roger at his letterbox when he heard a loud sound from a liquidamber tree on his property.

“Next minute, ‘crack!’,” he told the Gisborne Herald on Monday. “I said, ‘Roger, go for it!’ I raced out on the road, Roger raced up the footpath away.

“The adrenaline just hit,” he said. “Anything you have, whether a crook knee or a crook hip, everything just came right and you just gap it.”

Short went to the back of his property to check on his chickens and heard another big “crack”.

Nick Short at his property the day after two trees fell. Photo /Zoe Mills

A second tree, which he described as “massive”, fell and also landed on his property. It wrecked his front yard and other trees and plants in it, a fence and part of the front pavement, and narrowly missed his house.

“I looked up at the sky beside the Cancer Society [Gisborne East Coast Cancer Society base located next door], and there was nothing there – nothing”.

Cancer Society centre co-ordinator Trudy McNeil was alerted to the incident on Sunday night.

As well as tearing up the footpath, the tree took out a cable, leaving the branch without internet.

McNeil said it had been a logistical “nightmare”.

The tree had been a source of concern and was suspected of being a danger “for a while now”, she said.

She understood branches had been ripped from the same tree during Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023.

Short, who owns a contracting business, brought in his team to assist in the clean-up on Monday morning.

He estimated the tree was more than 100 years old and would cost “at least a couple of grand” to clean up.

He had insurance but said the damage had left “a hell of a mess”.

Liquidambar trees, often known as sweet gum, have been known to cause damage to surrounding infrastructure because of their shallow and aggressive roots. The Auckland Botanic Gardens website says the tree is not suited for a home garden unless there is plenty of space.

Short intended to donate a portion of the wood as winter approaches.