Firms from across the island have been working non-stop to clear major roads and remove hazards since the island was hit by 80mph winds on Thursday night.
Special Branch owner Simon Marshall was hard at work yesterday clearing Prince Albert Road, where five 90-foot- high Monterey cypress trees had fallen from Mount Durand into the road below.
‘Only the top ten feet or so is protruding over the road, so all we will be doing is cutting the tops off and getting the road reopened,’ he said. ‘Removing the trunks will have to wait until we have time to come back with some heavy lifting equipment. That has what it has been like, cutting, piling up the logs and moving onto the next one.’
‘We started at the crack of dawn Friday morning and have basically worked closely with the police and the emergency call centre to co-ordinate which roads needed clearing, and we have worked full-on since then.’
So far work has concentrated on clearing the island’s major arterial roads. Mr Marshall said he did not envisage being able to get any private work in gardens done for at least a week.
‘It is tragic the amount of amazing trees we have lost. We won’t know the full story until we finish with the roads and get out to the rest of the island,’ he said. ‘It was way worse than [Storm] Ciaran, the power of that wind was incredible. I have a weather station at my house in St Sampson’s and that recorded a speed of 78mph.’
On Saturday Mr Marshall and his team took on the challenge of removing an oak tree that had fallen from Government House across Mount Durand and wedged into a house on the opposite side of the road.
‘It was very technical as the trunk weighed seven and a quarter tonnes and was being borne by very little,’ he said. ‘It was one of the hardest, most challenging day’s work we have ever had. The community spirit in Guernsey has been wonderful, it’s been an honour to be a part of everyone working together, and I’m so proud to call this place home.’
Across town, Guernsey Tree Services were removing seven trees from Cambridge Park that were felled by the high winds.
‘It’s been non-stop since first light on Friday,’ said owner Ric David. ‘We cleared two big trees on Friday on the Forest Road and Longue Rue and then the weekend we were at Blanchelande, which had taken a hammering, making sure they were safe to open on Monday.’
‘It’s certainly worse than Ciaran, we have probably lost thousands of trees. And a lot have not just been pulled up by their roots, they have snapped at the weakest point.
‘Which trees were affected also seems to be quite random. We are looking at months of work. I have a whole list of trees I haven’t even looked at yet, and am getting a lot of messages today from people who knew we would be busy with emergency work and were delaying contacting us.’
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