Purdue Extension Service
Purdue Extension Service
Vanderburgh County, Indiana
In Margate in the county of Kent, there are many tall poplar trees, and it's not uncommon for houses in the rural areas to be surrounded by woods and spinneys. During the 1986 storm, millions of trees were uprooted by the gales. One hapless resident of Margate owned a house that bordered a small wood, on the edge of which was three massive poplars. The wind had felled one, which had come to rest across his back garden. The other two poplars had been bent over just far enough to lodge their tops under the soffit of this guy's roof.
The foliage of the bent trees was blocking almost all the light from his upstairs bedroom windows. The owner decided something had to be done. Now, this chap did not own a chainsaw nor could he reach the trunks of the trees from the house--even when leaning out of the window.
He decided to shinny up one of the trees and saw off the top while sitting astride the trunk, with his feet wedged against his roof gutter. He had plenty of time to reflect on the wisdom of his position, as it took him almost 20 minutes of sawing before the tree--which experts estimate held the energy equivalent to small field gun--parted company with the portion trapped by the soffit, and sprang back upright.
His body was found in a neighbor's garden over a mile away. The police surgeon stated that his neck probably broke during the whiplash and he would therefore have known nothing of the impact with the ground.
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