When we moved in to our new house, part of the fun was getting the property disclosure where the previous owner’s put down their best guess of when the roof was last replaced, and try to explain why the crack in the basement isn’t a big deal.
We read through ours before we moved in and note that “A tree fell on the house several years ago, everything has been repaired.” After the inspector went through, we didn’t see any evidence that our house had been the victim of a tree falling on it, so we figured it must have been a small tree and not a big issue.
We did find some mysteries in our house as we went to repair it. We found two cracks in the western and southern foundations of the house. We noted that a window on the western wall of the master bedroom had been replaced. The kitchen was completely remodeled, but other parts of the house looked original. When we replaced the fans in the bedrooms, we were surprised that the electrical in the master bedroom was more recent than the electrical in the other bedrooms. All of this isn’t completely unusual, people update their houses all the time. What we never thought was that all the upgrades were actually connected!
The very week we moved in, upon meeting the neighbors, almost the first thing they said was “Want to see pictures of the tree that fell on your house?” Naturally we agreed. This was no small tree. The tree sat between our house and the house to our West. It appears to have been planted when the house was built, or probably even before that. It is most likely a maple tree. Other details of the tree’s life and family lineage were not released.
I forgot to get copies of the pictures from the first set of neighbors we met, but several months later, another set of neighbors showed us the same pictures and I was able to get copies, and now I present them for your enjoyment. Since I was able to scan them, I can point out some key points that might be missed when just looking at the 4 x 6 pictures.
Note that the event happened on or just before May 8th or the year 2000. You can talk to anyone in my neighborhood that has been there for more than ten years, and they know the event, and they know my house.
May 8th dawned stormy. In fact, according to weather-underground, we didn’t get much past the Dawn because a wind gust of 45+ mph went through right around 6 AM, and it’s my belief that that is what fell the tree. The Whitmore’s were early risers and had vacated the West half of the house. They heard the huge tree crash through their bedroom and they rushed outside, thankful they weren’t hurt. They weren’t prepared for the sight they saw.
They took this picture from their backyard under the shade of another tree (that has since fallen). Notice the tree completely smashes through their bedroom, continues through the bathroom, and comes out above the kitchen. It appears the only thing that stopped the tree from falling further into the house was the concrete foundation. Click on each image for a bigger view!
That's a big tree!
A closer up view of the side of the house reveals that the tree just missed the closet and fell straight through the middle of the bedroom. Note the dirt thrown up against my neighbor’s house as the tree was uprooted.
Side Yard
A wider view from the backyard shows that while the tree came out over the kitchen, the canopy of the tree lays all the way past the garage!
Back Yard Wide
Notice the roof and how it sags on the West side of the house where the tree has just come down. There are also tree branches strewn about the yard, indicating that this is probably the same day as the storm.
Then the show began. Naturally someone called the news to capture this story. A news reported showed up soon after and began recording the disaster. I did some quick hunting on the internet to see if the news report is viewable, but it was over 10 years ago and I found nothing. I can’t tell which news agency it is either, possibly NBC based on the emblem on his microphone. I do feel bad for the guy, having to run the camera and give the report all by himself. Maybe it was a big news day for the rest of the town too.
Reporting
This guy is hard core, notice the intense expression on his face. And he’s standing right next to the newly fallen tree which could settle at any moment and take him and his camera out. Also, notice his Gatorade water bottle to his left and the cream cheese – wait cream cheese?
Maybe it helps keep him calm while he reports.
More reporter’s showed up later that day (including this one with his own camera man, but no cream cheese).
More Reporters
The tree was so large, they had to send for a crane. By this time in the day, the tree falling on the house was known around the neighborhood and it was becoming a real event. People were setting up lawn chairs and preparing to watch the crane do it’s job.
The Crane
Chainsaw experts cut away as much of the tree as possible before the crane would get to work. I like the way one of the guys is holding the other guy on the roof. And the shirtless guy is just hanging out.
Cut the Tree
Finally the crane pulled out the huge stump and the shredder machine chewed up the brush. The afternoon wore on and the tree was completely removed. Note the tree across the street. It too has branches that have fallen down. This was quite a storm.
Pile of Wood
This didn’t fix the house though. The tree had smashed through the bedroom, the bathroom, and into the kitchen.
The Whitemore’s snapped this picture from inside the living room showing the tree falling down into the Kitchen. We were actually blessed that the tree fell, because it means the kitchen was completely remodeled. Even some of the bathroom and master bedroom were replaced. Here’s the kitchen in May of 2000 – a bit worse for wear.
Kitchen
Note that the time is 12:09 PM, and the huge branch through the kitchen. I also think it’s cool that the drawers have been removed from the island. There must have been some important items in the drawers.
And here is is in spring of 2010. Much better!
Kitchen Now
We are now down to only one “native” tree on our property that was original to the building of the house. All the other trees have fallen or were torn down. None of the other trees were nearly as exciting as this one though!
