Cases of fallen trees reduced by up to 70% last year
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Cases of fallen trees reduced by up to 70% last year
By May Wong | Posted: 20 July 2010 0010 hrsSINGAPORE: The number of fallen trees dropped by up to 70 percent last year compared to nine years ago.
Last year, some 1,000 cases of tree failures were reported.
The number is 2,100 less than that in year 2000.
The number of tree failures in June this year however jumped by 170 percent to 240 cases, compared to the same month last year.
In a written reply to a question asked in Parliament, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said the increase was due largely to the adverse weather.
He said NParks is reviewing its tree management programme in response to increasingly unpredictable weather conditions.
He added that it will also explore new technology to better assess the condition of trees.
NParks also carries out regular tree pruning to remove weak or overgrown branches.
-CNA/ir -
If you used a value plucked in year 2000 to one you used in year 2009, I am at a loss for words.
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Driver killed after tree fell on car during downpour
By Sona Remesh | Posted: 20 July 2010 1548 hrsSINGAPORE: A driver was killed when a tree fell and hit the car he was in during heavy rain Tuesday afternoon at the junction of Thomson Hill Drive and Yio Chu Kang Rd.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said the victim was pronounced dead when its personnel arrived at about 2.50pm.
The SCDF said the car was badly damaged.
Rescuers took about 20 minutes to remove his body, using two hydraulic spreader cutters. - CNA/jm -
It just need one tree to kill.
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well, we want a green city, then this is the risk we have to take.
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There are less trees nowadays.
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Originally posted by Clivebenss:
There are less trees nowadays.
LOL.. and they are trying to cut down all the trees.... If not everyone start sueing them, they die...
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Originally posted by Clivebenss:
Cases of fallen trees reduced by up to 70% last year
By May Wong | Posted: 20 July 2010 0010 hrsSINGAPORE: The number of fallen trees dropped by up to 70 percent last year compared to nine years ago.
Last year, some 1,000 cases of tree failures were reported.
The number is 2,100 less than that in year 2000.
The number of tree failures in June this year however jumped by 170 percent to 240 cases, compared to the same month last year.
In a written reply to a question asked in Parliament, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said the increase was due largely to the adverse weather.
He said NParks is reviewing its tree management programme in response to increasingly unpredictable weather conditions.
He added that it will also explore new technology to better assess the condition of trees.
NParks also carries out regular tree pruning to remove weak or overgrown branches.
-CNA/ir9 years.. Wah liao... NParks can do a better job mah... compare it with the year before or 10 years before still OK... But why 9 years???
Its like quoting more Singaporeans found job in 2008 than in 2010. -_-" Cos recession years and all excluded. -
Jul 21, 2010 - Straits Times
NParks steps up tree pruning
THE National Parks Board (NParks) will continue its stepped-up effort of pruning trees and focus on mature ones where road traffic is high.
NParks CEO Ng Lang, in a statement on Wednesday, said it has already completed the inspection of 2,000 mature trees and reduced their crowns.
'This intensified maintenance regime will continue,' said Mr Ng, in response to the death of a 32-year-old man, who died after a rain tree uprooted and smashed into the car he was driving on Tuesday afternoon during a heavy downpour.
The motorist, Mr Chua Loong Wai, was pinned to his seat and died of injuries to his spine. The accident happened at the junction of Thomson Hills Drive and Yio Chu Kang Road at around 2 pm on Tuesday.
Expressing his condolences to Mr Chua's family, Mr Ng said the incident was caused by an intense weather condition known as microburst - which are localised strong columns of very rapidly descending air.
'They are known to knock down big trees. The wind speed at the location at the time of the incident was as high as 65 kmh, and it was accompanied by heavy rain,' said Mr Ng.
'NParks is fully aware that this unfortunate incident can raise concerns about the safety of our trees. We want to assure the public that we share these concerns, especially in view of the recent spate of intense weather conditions.'
He added that an NParks team has been deployed at the location where the microburst occurred on Tuesday to inspect and ensure the safety of the trees there.
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Jul 22, 2010= Straits Times
Tree falls on car, 3 unhurt
Passengers in car escaped unscathed
by Carolyn Quek
IN an accident eerily similar to Tuesday's fallen tree tragedy, three passengers made a lucky escape after a tree fell on their car in Ang Mo Kio on Thursday during another heavy downpour.
The incident happened at about 7.45am at a road junction near Block 226, Ang Mo Kio Street 22.
The passengers managed to get away with some scratches but their car - a Blue Chevrolet - was badly damaged with its back windscreen completely shattered.
The passengers remained in their car until the Singapore Civil Defence Force came to their aid.
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Trees are falling at a more frequent basis perhaps due to their age?
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Jul 22, 2010 - Straits Times
Falling trees due to weather
By Hoe Pei Shan
THE recent spate of falling trees are the result of severe weather conditions - not because the trees had been poorly maintained.
The National Parks Board said it had in fact stepped up its 15,000-tree a month inspection to include an additional 2,000 large, mature trees in the past two months, when unstable weather first hit Singapore.
Meeting the media on Thursday, NParks' director of streetscapes Simon Longman said that there was no emerging pattern as to what sort of trees or areas were more prone to such accidents.
'There was no trend in the species, the size, nor the location of these recent cases, and it really boils down to the individual circumstances like wind and rain,' said Mr Longman, who added that the recent severe weather conditions have made NParks' work particularly challenging.
'For the tree that fell in Yio Chu Kang, it had a well-formed root system and yet was completely uprooted by the microburst.' Thunderstorms and microbursts, which are powerful gusts of air, contributed to 240 incidents of fallen trees or branches in June alone.
In light of more severe weather expected this weekend, the intensified maintenance regime - which targets trees along roads with high vehicular traffic - will continue. Mr Longman also assured that NParks has been carrying out a 'very rigorous and systematic' tree care programme, with regular tree safety inspections for signs of poor health, disease, pests or strcutural defects performed since the 1980s.
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excuses.
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Jul 26, 2010 - Straits Times
Decaying trees in Orchard cut
by Daryl Chin
TWO Angsana trees that have stood outside Liat Towers in Orchard Road for more than 30 years were chopped down on Monday after showing signs of decay.
The National Parks Board (NParks) decided to fell the 20m-tall trees following a routine inspection, to lessen the risk of an accident in an area which sees heavy pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
This normally involves a visual examination to spotsigns of defectand may be followed by secondary checks using high-tech equipment. The extent of the decay was confirmed after a detailed inspection using a decay detection drill, said Mr Simon Longman, director of streetscape at NParks.
Last month, there were 240 incidents in which branches or entire trees fell, largely due to bad weather such as strong winds and heavy rain.
National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said recently that despite the rise in recent spate of 'tree failures', actual numbers are down from 3,100 in 2000 to 1,000 last year - a decrease of about 70 per cent over the last 10 years.
Last Tuesday, a man was crushed to death in his car when a rain tree was uprooted and fell onto his car.