About 20 years ago I was nearly killed by falling trees. It happened while I was a grounds keeper at a big local cemetery. We’d had gusty winds which earlier in the morning had toppled a pine tree, so the whole team loaded up three trucks and a chipper to clean it up. The fallen tree was of a line of stately old pines which stretched along a road that went north to south.
While the deafening chain saws ripped and chipper raged, the west winds started to pick up again. Sawdust and flying bits were striking us in the face as an enormous gust came that literally pushed us all back on our heels. At that same moment, three 75’ pines, from the row, bent, uprooted and slammed to the ground in near unison. Thump, thump, thump.
They fell west to east across the road, between the trucks, the chippers and the men.
We looked at each other with utter disbelief. The boss, realizing how stupid he’d been, shouted for us to “get the hell out of here”.
Ive always hated the violence of the wind. It’s the only thing in nature that truly unsettles me. Plus, I can’t stand being without power and internet.