A Sydney council was "inadequate" at identifying potential tree hazards when a storm uprooted a tree onto a couple's car and killed a man inside, a coroner has found.
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Kenneth Eberle, 63, was a front-seat passenger in an SUV being driven by his wife, Christine, along the Great Western Highway in Emu Plains in January 2016 when a large Sydney blue gum fell and crushed the car's roof.
"I knew soon after that Kenneth had gone," Mrs Eberle, his wife of more than 40 years, said in a statement tendered at an inquest into his death.
"Everything went silent. I could feel that it was raining on my feet but I could not hear anything until a man was yelling out asking if we were okay."
Her husband had earlier told her to be careful of the wind, she said.
Mr Eberle died at the scene while his wife was pinned against the steering wheel, suffering multiple fractures.
The inquest before Deputy State Coroner Paula Russell has heard the trees were planted in rows along the highway, with two - including the one that fell on the Eberles' car - exposed to the "full force" of "unimpeded" winds racing across the sports oval they bordered.
Police officers who responded to the scene described the conditions as "tornado"-like and "very violent" with hail.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, 1298 calls were made to the SES that day about fallen trees in Sydney.
At the time of Mr Eberle's death, there "was no regular system of inspection" of trees by Penrith City Council.
Maintenance staff and others unqualified in arboriculture were heavily relied upon to observe and report any site hazards, the coroner said.
However, she couldn't conclude that a better system would have identified the fallen tree as a significant risk.
"It is abundantly clear that that system of maintenance and inspection of the council's trees ... was inadequate to identify trees which were a potential hazard," Ms Russell said in her findings on Friday.
"It could not be said that the council, in the time leading up to 14 January 2016, had done all it properly could to identify trees at risk."
The coroner recommended the council adopt its "organised, coherent and responsible" proposed Street and Park Tree Management Plan, which was yet to be finalised during the inquest.
It states tree risk assessments must be conducted by a qualified person at particular times.
"All of that, of course, is no comfort to Mrs Eberle, Todd or Brooke who have sustained the terrible loss of a loved husband and father," the coroner said.
Australian Associated Press
