In some sad news, a few months ago a large tree fell on a house in Kevin Avenue in Avalon, trapping the occupants. Fortunately, the people involved seem to have escaped relatively unscathed.
It’s important when we learn of this kind of damage from trees – not to panic. Let’s remember the context and just how incredibly low the chances of injury or death from trees actually are.
As an example the mortality rate in Australia for falling out of bed was 1 in 420,000 in 2011(1), in comparison the mortality rate in Australia for accidental tree failure while inside a house was 1 in 189,000,000 in 2019(2).
There have been three people killed by accidental tree failures on the Northern Beaches in the past eighty five years: the first event in 1959 resulted in the death of two people and the most recent event in 2021 resulted in the death of one person. By comparison, there have been 15 people killed in motor vehicle accidents on the Northern Beaches in the five-year period between 2018 and 2022(3).
These figures clearly illustrate just how low the level of risk associated with injury or death from tree failures actually are, and will hopefully put your minds somewhat at ease. Please refer to our follow up article, ‘Inspecting Your Trees for Storm Damage’ which will provide you with some simple tips for assessing your trees for storm damage.
(1) (2) Hartley M & Chalk J (2019), Australian Bureau of Statistics. A Review of Deaths in Australia from Accidental Tree Failures. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/62f6ff16c468f33e5ca7e657/t/62f73ce6474dc10be0aae14e/1660370153819/A+Review+of+Deaths+in+Australia+from+Accidental+Tree+Failures.pdf (Viewed 06.05.2024)
(3) Fatality Trends by Gender, Road User or Region. Transport NSW. https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/roadsafety/statistics/interactive-crash-statistics/fatality-trends. (Viewed 14.05.2024)