WESTVILLE, N.S. — All things considered, Kay Brown of Westville is counting her blessings.
A large evergreen tree in her yard fell during Dorian and landed directly on her Mazda car, but she’s thankful that no one was hurt and that it didn’t fall into the house where she and her daughter Heather Brown were watching television.
Like many in Pictou County, Kay and Heather had settled in at home to weather the storm which downed trees throughout the region and left thousands without power. Heather is just visiting for a few days from Ontario, but got more than she bargained for from the visit.
“It had been really quiet and then it just went a big gust of wind and boom,” said Kay. This happened around 7:20 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7.
Both said it was surprising how quietly the tree fell. There was only a slight cracking noise. But they knew from looking out the window at the direction that it fell that the car had been hit. A back window was smashed and the the top of the car is bent where the tree landed
The tree also took off a piece of gutter from the roof and knocked a small chip on the deck. On its way down the tree also caught the power line to the house and pulled it down.
Heather turned to her mom and said, “Come on, we’ve got to get out of here.”
“She didn’t want to leave,” Heather said. “She’s like, ‘What if the other one comes down? I don’t want to lose my house.”
“You being here isn’t going to stop it,” Heather said.
The Westville Fire and Rescue Department was quick to respond and helped the women get to a nearby relative, Charmaine Harris’ house
“I want to give great kudos to them,” Kay said. “They treated us with such kindness and respect. One of them took me and my daughter and both of our dogs down to my nieces’ house.”
As she surveyed the damage early Sunday afternoon, Kay said she’s thankful that the tree didn’t hit the house directly or fall onto one of her neighbour’s properties or into the road.
She has lived in the house for about three and a half years and has worried in the past about the trees which grow by it.
“I’ve been waiting to take those trees down because I don’t trust them.”
She said she will be making sure she can get the rest of the trees off her property so that she doesn’t have any more close calls.
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