Monkeypod tree takes
a slow dive in Nuuanu

Several people affirm that a
falling tree does make a sound

---

By Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.com

Anne Tamashiro-Liu was taking a break with a co-worker Friday on the back lanai of the Casey Family Program facility in Nuuanu when they heard a loud cracking sound. A large monkeypod tree across the Nuuanu Stream was slowly falling down.

"We were watching it fall over in slow motion. It was so weird because we could see the roots. It came out by its roots," said Tamashiro-Liu, a social worker for the Casey Family Program, a private adoption and foster care agency.

Others ran outside after they heard the cracking sound. There was a loud thumping sound when the tree hit the ground and came to a rest about 20 feet away, Tamashiro-Liu said.

"That was our excitement of the day," she said.

The tree was headed toward the balcony of the facility's conference room but fell short. The conference room was empty. The tree did not damage any structures but did fall on another tree, Tamashiro-Liu said.

The monkeypod tree stood on the edge of the Hawaii Baptist Academy Elementary School campus outside a chain-link fence, on the bank of Nuuanu Stream. School officials are making arrangements to remove it.