Why some of our trees couldn’t survive Alfred, and which suburbs were worst hit

Ten days after ex-tropical cyclone Alfred hit Brisbane, tearing down large trees across the city, workers had already dealt with more than 1000 tree jobs on public land, but their list of work was far from over.

Brisbane Times can reveal that Carindale had the most jobs — including cleaning up leaves, fronds, fallen branches and fallen trees — in a snapshot of work provided by Brisbane City Council on Tuesday.

Carindale, with 28 jobs, was followed by Bracken Ridge, the Gap, Carseldine and Zillmere. Each of the top five suburbs still had more than 20 jobs on their books more than a week after Alfred.

Other pockets of the city also saw their streetscapes change dramatically.

In inner-city Teneriffe, one of the fig trees lining the streets of heritage woolstore apartments crashed into a pub on the night Alfred crossed the coast north of Brisbane, bringing wind gusts of up to 96km/h.

Days later, that tree’s Vernon Terrace neighbour — another Moreton Bay fig — was also deemed unsafe.

“Council’s principal arborist has inspected this tree and made the appropriate but unfortunate decision to remove this tree,” Central ward councillor Vicki Howard wrote on social media.

“Please know that this decision was not made lightly … the risk of ignoring the damage is simply too high.”

On community Facebook groups, many called for the trees to be immediately replaced, describing them as the key to “the character and appeal of our neighbourhood”.

Jan Paterson, vice president of the Queensland Arboricultural Association, said although she had no direct experience with the Teneriffe figs, it was “not overly surprising” to hear some had fallen victim to the storm.

Paterson, who has co-owned a local arboricultural business for 20 years, said some fig trees on urban streets had huge canopies with limited area for their roots to grow.

Under normal weather conditions, they would likely be safe, but that did not guarantee stability in the extreme winds Brisbane experienced earlier this month.

“I give the analogy of a person driving in normal traffic; they’re pretty safe,” she said. “But Alfred was like being hit by a Mack truck.”

Brisbane Times asked the council which species had suffered the most damage in the storm, but was only given the snapshot of jobs by suburb.

A tree blocks a New Farm street the day after Alfred hit Queensland.Credit: Rosanna Ryan

Paterson said some species had failed more than others across Brisbane. She would not elaborate on which they were, arguing that such information might lead people to seek to remove healthy trees that were not at risk of failure.

Just as trees on public land were assessed by professionals, she said plants on private property also deserved the attention of trained arborists, who would look at their branches, canopies, leaves and roots, and for any evidence of pests or disease.

These assessments usually begin with ground-level visual checks, but in more complex cases may require aerial inspections by climbing arborists, drones and X-rays.

Paterson warned home owners to be wary of door-to-door tree-loppers, who she said often spread unjustified “mischief” by suggesting all large trees were dangerous.

“My best advice is to engage a trade-qualified, insured arborist every 12 to 18 months, and after a significant weather event such as Cyclone Alfred,” she said.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.