As readers know Waikanae has plenty of trees, but their number got reduced a little over the past few days with a storm that enveloped much of the North Island. Normally, like January, February is a dry month but extra quantities of “Dougherty’s Precious Water” since the beginning of the year meant that roots were saturated and their strength was thus weakened. Trees will generally cope with either strong winds or lots of water, but not both together.