Reports of damage increase throughout the day as wind ramps up
Additional Reporting by: John Wimperis, Daisy Graham-Brown and Eliot Raman Jones
SOUTH Wales Police have responded to a fallen tree in Rhiwbina Hill after concerned residents alerted them to the threat.
A nearby neighbour, who did not want to give their name, said: “We’re really worried. If the tree rolls it will fall straight onto our house.”
The police shut the road to deal with the obstacle.
Many fallen trees have been reported, smashing cars and blocking roads as the 100mph winds of Storm Eunice cause damage across Cardiff slightly later than expected.
Cardiff Council has closed Bute Park, Roath Park, Parc Cefin Onn, Victoria Park and Thomson Park for the day to ensure people’s safety.
Trees have been falling in the Cardiff area since 9am on Friday but the total number has ramped up as the storm gets stronger.
One tree which fell on Boverton Street, Roath, crushed a car and blocked the road.
It landed on a Citroen C5, crushing the roof above the driver’s seat, completely blocking traffic down the residential street.
Local resident Delwyn, 82, said: “I couldn’t believe it. I parked on the next street down and I’m under a tree so I’m going to move now.”
He added there had been similar incidents elsewhere in the area when there had been stormy weather in the past. “It’s frightening,” he said.
Students Tristram Hughes, 22, and Caleb, 22, live two streets down and had just come back from a walk around Bute Park where they had gone to look for storm damage.
Mr Hughes said: “We came back and out housemate said ‘there’s a tree on a car down the road’ so we didn’t have to go that far.”
Caleb added that their housemate had been parked in this spot two days ago.
One resident, who did not wish to be named, said they had emailed Cardiff Council on February 7, and told them they believed the tree was dead and could pose a danger if it fell and warned people not to park underneath it.
Heath, Beddau and Roath were all further affected late morning and early afternoon as trees were uprooted by gusts of up to 100mph.
At lunchtime a tree fell outside Cardiff Magistrates Court.
