Locals Craig Holmes, Curtis Hannah and Debra Russell dragged two fallen trees off Albert Park Drive/SH3 and cleared foliage to open a blocked lane. Photo / Dean Taylor
Locals Craig Holmes, Curtis Hannah and Debra Russell dragged two fallen trees off Albert Park Drive/SH3 and cleared foliage to open a blocked lane. Photo / Dean Taylor
Waipā District Council phones have been running hot after ex-Tropical Cyclone Dovi left a slew of damage to trees and power lines in the weekend storm.
As the cyclone hit Te Awamutu a roadside tree opposite Craig Holmes' house in Te Rahu Rd fell onto the road, blocking a lane.
Police attended and Craig, Curtis Hammond and Debra Russell set about cutting up the fallen tree and opening the road.
As they finished the officer was called to another incident on Albert Park Drive, so the trio followed.
Two more trees had fallen onto the road and again a lane was closed, with northbound traffic diverted onto George St.
The locals swung into action, towing the trees onto the berm and cutting up debris so the lane could re-open.
Large branches came down at the rear of the Rose Gardens, one onto Pioneer Walk and the other onto the fountain pump shed. Photo / Dean Taylor
Many areas of New Zealand had reports of flooding, slips, downed trees, road closures and disruption to power and cellphone services, but damage in the Waipā was mainly limited to trees damaged after the extraordinary weekend winds said the council's acting community services manager, Brad Ward.
"We haven't experienced significant wind of this direction like this in the Waipā for about three years, so we've seen amplified damage to what we might normally expect during a weather event."
The council had received 50 phone calls since Sunday morning, with its tree maintenance contractor Treescape more than trebling that in the same period.
Treescape fielded 176 calls on Sunday from customers seeking help with their damaged trees and the crew has been busy assessing, prioritising and undertaking the clean-up.
"Due to the extent of the clean-up, the work will be undertaken as a matter of priority with the most urgent work being done first to make trees safe, and then to deal with the debris afterwards," said Brad.
In the midst of Cyclone Dovi, a tree came down on top of a car on Ōhaupō Road. Photo / Kayne Sutherland
He noted that although it's too early to know all the costs of the clean-up at this early stage, the cost was already covered within the council's existing tree-maintenance budget for emergency work.
"I expect the cost to be between $20,000 and $30,000 just to get the trees safe and cleaned up. There are likely to be subsequent costs associated with this event such as stump grinding and replanting as appropriate."
In terms of road maintenance, council transport manager Bryan Hudson said the damage was relatively minor considering the size of the storm.
"Most of our issues were relating to tree debris on roads and street clean-ups required but we had no water-damage issues. Two roads were closed by relatively minor tree falls on Sunday but our crew quickly cleaned that up on the same day," said Bryan.
The council has reported some damage to Te Awa River Ride along the river banks west of Cambridge, where tree branches have damaged boardwalk handrails but this was not significant.
Brad reminded residents who have a protected tree on their land that if their tree(s) require emergency maintenance, they may be able to access the Protected Tree Fund, administered by the council.
The fund was set up to assist landowners with maintenance and inspection costs of protected trees under certain criteria.
In the midst of Cyclone Dovi, a tree came down on Ōhaupō Road. Photo / Kayne Sutherland
"Where there is immediate threat to people or property, council can also consider retrospective applications to the Protected Tree Fund, if residents need to undertake emergency work to rectify tree safety as defined by the District Plan – but only under strict criteria. I would encourage those landowners with protected trees to check them out, and contact us if they have any questions about the process," added Brad.
