Large tree falls at Toh Yi condo; no injuries but residents' homes and cars damaged

SINGAPORE — Mrs Ellen Woo was getting ready for bed close to 10pm on Monday (March 1), when she heard a loud crashing sound that jolted her from the bed.

"We heard a 'pang'. It’s like hundreds of tonnes of bricks that impacted on the ground. So you can imagine the sound," said the 76-year-old retired teacher.

A large tree, believed to be a raintree, fell within the Kismis Court condominium in Toh Yi Road where she lives on Monday night.

According to residents to whom TODAY spoke, Mrs Woo was one of two owners in the condominium who suffered significant property damage.

The railing along her balcony has been dented and most of her plants destroyed.

A tree branch also fell onto her car, but caused little damage.

No one was injured in the incident.

Another resident, also called Mrs Woo, who lives in the unit below the retired teacher and her husband, suffered worse damage to her property.

She is the sister-in-law of the Woos in the unit above and declined to give her full name.

The 84-year-old retiree told TODAY that the awning and a bathroom window had been damaged when the tree crashed onto her garden.

When TODAY went into the older Mrs Woo's house, several branches were piled up in her garden.

Mrs Woo said she came home shortly after the tree fell and saw her neighbours crowding around the tree.

"I saw the whole tree was on the road, blocking up everything. The gate at the opposite house could not open," she said.

One of the cars hit by a branch from the fallen tree. Photo: Janice Lim

The police were called and contractors came after to start clearing the tree, residents said.

They said that they could hear them still working until 3am at least.

When TODAY visited the site on Tuesday at 3.30pm, several workers could still be seen clearing parts of the tree.

Mr Geoffrey Benjamin, the chair of the condominium's management council, told TODAY that two cars that did not belong to residents of Kismis Court were also damaged.

One had its roof dented, while the other had its front and back windscreens smashed in and its roof was also squashed, he said.

He has been in touch with the development's managing agent, who will be assessing the extent of the property damage and the amount of insurance that could be claimed.

TODAY has sought comment from the managing agent.

Both the older and younger Mrs Woo lamented the loss of their plants they had painstakingly cultivated.

A view of the fallen tree from inside the older Mrs Woo's Kismis Court unit. Photo: Janice Lim

The younger Mrs Woo said she had a papaya tree that was "growing so well" but is now gone.

The older Mrs Woo pointed to this reporter a Christmas tree that she had grown since it was a sapling but has been damaged by the huge tree.

Still, she said that she will still keep up her spirit as she is still alive.

If she had been outside gardening instead, she might have been "gone" — crushed "into pieces", she said.