Orlando neighbors say rotting tree remains a concern after branch removed from car
ORLANDO, Fla. —
A rotting tree branch that fell on a car in Orlando was removed Monday, three days after it crashed onto the vehicle, but neighbors say the tree remains a danger.
Bronwyn Cornett, a resident of Oregon Street, expressed relief as city employees cleared the debris.
“Well, I’m really glad to see the street again,” Cornett said.
The damage to the car includes a caved-in hood and roof.
Luis Camacho, the owner of the damaged car, said he was home when the branch fell on his black Nissan around 3:30 p.m. Friday.
“All of a sudden, we heard a big boom,” Camacho said.
Cornett said she contacted the city immediately after the incident but noted that the issue had been reported weeks earlier.
“This was reported two weeks ago that there were termites,” she said. “You can see it. There are termites active in there. You got a lot of disease in that tree. Three days. It could have been avoided if it was taken care of,” Cornett said.
While Cornett is glad the branch was removed, she believes the situation should have been addressed much sooner.
“I think that I’m mortified because if it had been a child or a person would have been an immediate response,” she said.
Cornett added that the city informed her the tree remains a concern.
“They said that the tree is definitely an issue,” she said. ” It obviously looks bad, so they told us to stay away from it because we’re in the zone of the area that it could fall, and they’re worried about more branches,” Cornett said.
The city has yet to respond to inquiries about whether the tree will be removed entirely.