“We did have one tree fail at the base, which is a little bit scary”, Director of Parks and Urban Forestry cautions public

Shawn Dias, Director of Parks and Urban Forestry within the City of Morden, says the day started off slow, watching the rain and wind in Morden. Dias started getting reports of fallen trees and broken branches about mid-morning.  

“Morden Park probably had the most damage in terms of full trees. The rest were just partial trees or broken limbs that came down on top of the road or in front of people’s driveways.” 

Dias says there have also been reports of partial trees falling on roofs and several reports of backyard damage.  

“I think we know from experience that regular pruning on your trees definitely helps”, says Dias regarding preventative measures. “There are areas around town that have had regular cleaning, but during some of these large wind events, it’s tough to predict what’s going to fall and what’s not.” 

Dias notes that they try to do their best in removing trees preemptively that have cracks and splits, as well as those that are structurally compromised, but there are many factors involved which make it unpredictable. 

“We ask the public to stay out of the well-treed areas, especially places like Morden Park during these high wind events. We did have one tree fail at the base, which is a little bit scary. And [there were] a couple other large trees that broke. Staying away from [these areas] is imperative.” 

Dias says that crews have been working hard to clean up after the fallen trees, and they are grateful that there have been no injuries. 

With files from Robyn Wiebe.