A tweet posted by the city of Raleigh during Hurricane Florence created quite a buzz on social media.
The city posted a picture of a massive tree that came crashing down on a picnic table at the Raleigh Rose Garden.
The tweet read “We can neither confirm nor deny that this Raleigh Rose Garden picnic table is made of vibranium.”
The picnic table may have been OK, but that tree nearly canceled Saturday’s all-day music festival.
“Just with all of the rain and the ground getting so saturated, plus the wind, it just fell down,” said Charles Phaneuf, executive director of the Raleigh Little Theatre.
The tree crashed down just days before the ‘Groove in the Garden’ music festival.
“My worry level was way up here,” said Adam Lindstaedt, owner and talent buyer at the Pourhouse Music Hall.
A huge stump is all that’s left of the massive tree. Organizers say the tree was so large when it fell it knocked out an entire row of smaller trees.
No one was hurt, but the tree fell so close to the stage that city officials closed off a third of the amphitheater because of concerns that branches could fall on park visitors.
“We certainly wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt,” said Phaneuf.
Crews cleaned up most of the mess just in time for the concert.
“Of course not that we’ve had devastation anywhere near as bad as down east and it’s hard not to just be very sad about that, but the city had so many different things to do, but I think they saw that this is a public park that a lot of people visit, so, kind of in the interest of safety and because we have a great partnership with them, they were able to get it done in time,” Phaneuf said.
Organizers hope area residents will come out and enjoy the music now that the storm has passed.
“It’s past us now, for those of us that are safe and have some free time, come and cut loose. Come on down to the garden and see the great bands,” Linstaedt said.
