Tania and Norman Robertson survey the damage after a tree came down on their house in wild weather. Picture: Meagan Rogers.
By Sarah Schwager
WILD winds wreaked havoc in Casey last week.
The Narre Warren State Emergency Service (SES) was kept on its toes last Friday with four callouts after trees came down on Casey properties.
Warneet couple Tania and Norman Robertson could not believe it when a massive gum tree fell on their house about noon, wrecking a friend’s Chevy in the process.
“Norman was at home in the lounge room at the time,” Mrs Robertson said.
“He didn’t even hear a snap. He heard the leaves brush up against the window.
“At first I was too scared to look at the house to see the damage. The tree had taken half the roof off the house. It was incredible.”
She said the tree mangled the washing line, pulled out the aerial line, roof tiles, eaves and spouting.
“It could have been a lot worse. Luckily there was no internal damage and a tree in the garden stopped it going through the fence and onto the neighbour’s house.”
Mrs Robertson said a friend whose Chevy Camaro was stored at their property and was smashed when the tree came down still did not know what had happened.
“We’ve been trying to get in contact with him. He didn’t even leave his keys so we could push it out of the way.”
She said she was thankful the incident happened during the day when her son Zack, 13, was at school as the tree had crushed the roof of his bedroom.
The SES was also called out to Clyde after a tree branch fell on a roof.
Narre Warren SES operations officer Kanny Lee said a cherry picker was needed after a tree shed its branches in the biggest job during the period at Lysterfield Lake on Friday night.
“The tree had huge branches coming off it. It was over 30 feet high and they were falling into the fork of its own tree,” Ms Lee said.
City of Casey planning manager Bob Baggio urged residents concerned about a large tree near their house to check with the council’s planning department on whether a permit was needed to remove the tree.
“Whether the removal of a tree requires a planning permit is dependent on the planning controls applying to the property,” Mr Baggio said.
“Council’s Planning Scheme generally discourages the unnecessary removal of native vegetation particularly in environmentally sensitive areas.
“However, each application is considered on its merits based on the relative health and structural stability of the tree in question.”
