Strong winds uproot trees onto residential building in Jyväskylä

A severe windstorm in central Finland uprooted two large spruce trees in Jyväskylä on Wednesday evening, sending them crashing onto a row house, reports Finnish public broadcaster Yle. The incident occurred in the Palokka district at approximately 7:45 PM, damaging a six-unit residential building.

Veikko Hintikka, chair of the housing association’s board, described hearing “a terrible crash” as the trees fell directly onto his section of the building. He immediately contacted emergency services, though rescue crews only arrived on Thursday to begin clearing the trees.

“I understand they had more urgent tasks, like wildfires,” Hintikka told Yle, noting that daylight conditions would aid the cleanup. He had previously warned city officials about the hazardous trees years earlier after another storm, marking them for inspection. “I don’t know if the city ever checked them, but they never contacted me,” he said.

The trees, located on city-owned land rather than the property itself, were uprooted entirely rather than snapped by the wind. Jyväskylä’s forestry expert Reijo Puttonen confirmed that if the city had been formally notified of the risk and failed to act, it would bear financial responsibility for damages. Otherwise, the property’s insurance would cover repairs.

Puttonen acknowledged that while the city conducts forest maintenance near residential areas roughly every 12 years, unpredictable storms can still cause unexpected damage. “Sometimes winds test limits we hadn’t anticipated,” he said.

Rescue services continue clearing operations, and the full extent of structural damage remains under assessment.