Tree limb falls during rain in Halifax, causes significant damage to car

WATCH: It’s not often it happens, but when it does, it’s expensive. This weekend, a Halifax motorists was shocked to find a large tree limb fell and struck his car, leaving thousands of dollars in damages. Global’s Natasha Pace reports.

HALIFAX – Saturday’s weather wasn’t out of the ordinary for Halifax: some rain and wind, but not a tropical storm worse.

But it was on Saturday that a large limb fell from an 80-year-old elm tree and caused thousands of dollars of damage to Mike Cormier’s car.

“It’s all dented on one side, the mirror got torn off, the paint is all scratched off,” Cormier said Monday.

Cormier said he doesn’t think the city is doing enough to maintain its trees. He said some are too big and he is concerned about how close the branches and power lines are.

“I think the trees are out of control,” he said, noting that he has some near his house that are large and seem as though they could also lose limbs.

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Officials say municipal crews work five days a week to manage and trim trees in the city, and a large limb breaking off and causing damage is a rare situation.

“It doesn’t happen very often. It was an unfortunate thing,” said John Simmons, the municipality’s supervisor of urban forestry. “We probably see those types of things once or twice a year.”

Crews are responsible to maintain 170,000 trees in the Halifax area. A harsh winter has put them slightly behind, but officials say progress is being made.

Officials have said it’s safe for trees to grow around power lines and a new initiative adopted by council will see crews tackle every single tree in the city.

The tree that snapped on the weekend and damaged Cormier’s car was considered healthy. He’s now trying to see if the city will help cover the cost of repairs.

Despite the damage caused by the tree, he knows it could have been worse.

“There could have been a person there, or a kid on a bike, or who knows,” he said. “No one got hurt, which is the main thing at the end of the day.”