The SES were kept busy on Thursday as a result of the heavy snowfall around the city while Orange mayor Reg Kidd has revealed some scenic sights will be off limits as a result of the weather.
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The snow was about 11 centimetres deep across parks, gardens and car roofs and the mayor said it was clear that one of the major impacts of this week's snowfalls had been on trees.
"This was one of the heaviest falls of snow in Orange for decades. When you get that much snow, it collects on trees and residents could see the branches bending over," he said.
"Some of those branches bent and snapped, but some are staying attached. It can be a potential safety problem where those heavy branches could fall on a passing car or a pedestrian.
"Our tree crews will be working for weeks and weeks to clear these hanging branches.
"There is another whole category of damage that's about whole trees that have now been so bent over that they're becoming unstable. In recent days local roads have been blocked, but the risk of other trees falling remains."
He added that while the snow is melting, the potential danger from damaged trees remains.
"I'm asking Orange residents to be patient as we work through this backlog," he said.
"It means places like the Botanic Gardens and the Pinnacle lookout will be staying closed because of the risk of a falling tree, while we work to clear the potential danger that might affect roads and cars.
"If visitors from Sydney want to see a beautiful vista of Orange, their host families could look at other options like the Mount Lindsay look out in Dalton Street."
Meanwhile, the city's SES crews responded to around 80 call-outs during the day. These were mostly due to trees blocking roads, trees on buildings and vehicles with many motorists becoming stranded in the snow.
"In a lot of instances our teams had to cut their way through large volumes of fallen trees just to get access into areas to assist motorists or residents," a statement from the SES read.
"With the assistance of NSW SES Bathurst Unit, Orange City Council, Cabonne Council & Central West Police District all stranded motorists were accessed."
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