Nick, 32, and his wife were in a shop along East Coast Road on the afternoon of Aug. 1 when they suddenly heard a loud thud outside the shop.
They didn't think much of it until a shop assistant approached them and asked if it was their car parked outside.
"I went to the door and saw a tree on my car," Nick said.
Photo courtesy of Nick
"The tree would have fallen on us should we have gone out of the car any later," said Nick
Nick said he found out from the restaurant manager and the staff from other shops along the road that a branch from the same tree had fallen on the night of Jan. 26, leading to three people injured.
"I later found out that NParks came down three days prior to the fall and had assessed the tree to be ill and needed to be chopped down," he noted.
Nick told Mothership that he and his wife quickly called their insurance company and NParks after the incident.
Fortunately, no one was injured.
"The tree would have fallen on us should we have gone out of the car any later," Nick commented.
"It felt really dangerous to have the same incident occurring at the same place," Nick said, adding that many pre-schooling children and patrons visited the area.
Taped car window after the incident. Photo courtesy of Nick.
Since the incident, Nick switched his car's baby seat to the left side of the car.
The couple also had to be gentle with the smashed door to avoid further broken shards from falling and would warn passengers to be cautious if they were sitting on the damaged side.
They said they also filed a claim against NParks.
Nick shared that he hoped his experience may help someone in the future be better equipped on what to do in such a situation.
Tree was cleared and removed on the same day
The National Parks Board (NParks) told Mothership it was alerted to a fallen tree incident involving a Yellow Flame Tree at 693 East Coast Road at 4:21pm on Aug. 1.
The organisation said, "There were no reported injuries, and the tree was cleared and removed on the same day. NParks has also carried out precautionary checks and pruning on the surrounding trees."
According to the NParks website, a Yellow Flame Tree can grow up to 20 metres tall.
It is a popular tree for roadside planting due to its drought-resistant nature.
Top photos courtesy of Nick.