A Pembroke reflexologist might have picked the wrong tree to shelter her car under.

Holly Paiva, of Ocean Lane, awoke yesterday morning to find her Ford Fusion’s windshield smashed in by a tree and her hood damaged. “The thing is I picked that spot to shelter my car because I was worried that a large palm in my yard might fall on the car,” Ms Paiva said.

“So I picked what I thought was a safer spot.”

But at the height of the storm the sound of smashing glass hinted she had made a mistake.

“I was inside with my two daughters when I heard it,” she said. “I had a feeling it was my car.”

When the winds died down, she discovered a Mexican pepper tree had fallen on top of her car. The palm she had worried about earlier was still intact.

Ms Paiva did not yet know how much it would cost to repair it.

“I haven’t talked to my insurance company yet,” she said. “But I am a mobile reflexologist, so this is going to really put a damper on my business.”

During the next storm she plans to park under the palm.