Wanganui home owner Harris Mills said the collapse of a tall pin oak outside his Oakland Ave home during Saturday's storm was a case of "I told you so".
Mr Mills said if the winds - gusting up to 120km/h at times - had been coming from the other direction, the 38m tree would have destroyed his home.
He and other residents in the street have been calling on Wanganui District Council for action on the trees, some of which are more than 100-years-old.
Mr Mills was in his lounge having a coffee just after 6am on Saturday, when the tree come down.
"I heard this almighty crack, looked up and watched as the tree toppled across the road. It didn't crash down. It just gracefully fell over on to trees on the other side of Oakland Ave," he said.
He said the trees on the other side of the street stopped it falling on to the power cable that runs the length of the street.
"It's a case of I told you so," Mr Mills said.
The tree that that fell is one of the six that he highlighted at a public meeting about the trees in January.
"There were six trees further down the street that were earmarked for height reduction but nothing was to be done with these other six, apart from the odd branch being trimmed off.
"I went back to council and asked why some but not others and was told they were sticking to the schedule they had."
Mr Mills said the council insisted the trees were healthy, but he said the entire root structure of the tree that fell was rotted. He was worried other trees in the street may be in the same state.
Mr Mills wanted the problem resolved sooner, rather than later.
"I understand they plan to do some pruning later this month or April but we want some action now. There are pedestrians walking on this street daily, so something must be done for their sake as well," he said.
"We know the trees were here before we came here but they weren't that high years ago either. They desperately need pruning."
Mr Mills was not advocating chopping down all the trees but some needed to be removed because they were unsound, he said.
"I feel a lot safer now that tree has fallen but it took an act of Mother Nature to do it and not the district council," he said.
Council officers had earlier flagged concerns about the state of some of the trees and said some of them might need to be removed. That upset residents who petitioned the council, saying urgent maintenance was needed rather than removal.