The Florida Dragon Boat Club has lost the use of one of its buildings after a large blue gum (Eucalyptus) tree fell over and came crashing down on it.

Eyewitnesses say a car was also damaged when the tree fell over.

According to club owner Beulah Cloete, the part of the building which was damaged was used by the club as their gym, and the building had been occupied just a few hours before the incident.

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“Luckily, no one was in the building at the time, but we have lost a lot of our gym equipment,” she says.

“Of even greater concern to me is the fact that part of the building is used by Johannesburg Emergency Management Services (EMS) as a training facility.

“There could have easily been someone in there, or in the gym when the tree fell over.”

Cloete adds that they have in the past reported several potentially dangerous trees on the property, but had little success in getting authorities to maintain or cut them down.

“All we can do now is hope the municipality has insurance on the buildings, so that we can have our gym repaired.”

The Roodepoort Record spoke to Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ) spokesperson Jenny Moodley, who confirmed that the club buildings surrounding Florida Lake belong to and are rented from the Johannesburg Property Company, and that the grounds are managed by the Department of Sports and Recreation.

“Work on cutting up the tree is ongoing and will need to be completed before a full damage assessment can be done.”