Deputy Mayor: 'It landed absolutely bullseye on top of my car'
Invercargill's deputy mayor awoke ready to head off to a risk and assurance meeting this morning only to find a tree lying on his vehicle.
Invercargill’s deputy mayor Tom Campbell had a decent excuse for having to skip a council meeting this morning (Tuesday).
Campbell awoke ready to head off to a risk and assurance meeting at the council only to find a tree lying on his vehicle.
The tree had fallen at his Invercargill property and landed directly on top of it.
Invercargill had been battered by strong winds overnight, but Campbell had no idea just what that was going to lead to at his property.
The front of his vehicle received extensive damage.
“When I saw it at first it was dark and I never realised how much damage there was until daylight came, but it was a big tree.
“It was poplar tree, maybe 8m high, by maybe 500mm at the bottom.”
“In an acre property the tree came down and hit fair and square on the car. The odds of that happening must have been a thousand to one with the area of the place.
“It landed absolutely bullseye on top of my car.”
He was hanging on to the one positive, in the fact he was not near it or sitting in the car when it actually happened.
Given the damage throughout the country Campbell said it had made it tough getting through to insurers and going through the assessment process.
“That makes it an even bigger nightmare…. But I suppose there’s a lot of people around the country in in worse off shape than me.”
Campbell was a late apology for this morning’s risk and assurance meeting as he tried to tend to the tree that was not just sitting on his vehicle but also blocked his driveway.
But he was determined to get to a second meeting at the council at noon.
Meanwhile, power has been out in parts of Southland and Otago, including Invercargill, due to heavy winds overnight.
MetService has forecast rain and severe gales for parts of southern New Zealand until tonight (Tuesday).
