raebates
Staff member
- 18,357
Imagine this: It's Sunday, December 23. You're sound asleep, warm in your own little bed, when you're awakened at 4:20 a.m. by what seems to be a rare earthquake in north-central Indiana. (Yes, when I'm not temping, I sleep in until the very decadent time of 5 a.m., so I was sound asleep.) The house shook. There was a huge rumbling noise. Things fell off shelves all over the house.
Upon further inspection, we discovered that the beautiful, old 80' Norway spruce in front of our house had fallen on our house.
It hit lengthwise near the peak of the roof, then most of it rolled off. It was a victim of the high winds we had during the night. I've attached pictures.
No one was hurt. The damage is much less than it could have been. Our home is over 120 years old, and built of native timber. It can withstand quite a blow. It was a bit freaky, though. For the rest of the day the view out every westward window was tree branches.
We were supposed to have had a house guest that night. One of our DS's friends had a college friend coming into town who needed a place for the night. At the last minute, she found a place with another friend. Can you imagine how frightening it would have been for her to be sleeping in the house of strangers when that happened?
We're just thankful that it:
Friends and family came over on Monday, after the winds had died down, and helped The Furry Guy to move the tree and cover the damaged areas of the roof. It crunched in a bit of the drywall in the storage room where it hit, but we hadn't gotten around to remodeling that room yet.
The biggest annoyance at the moment is that it took out our tv antenna. It's really a minor annoyance, though.
Our baby boy has flown back to Texas. We're in the process of gathering estimates for the insurance company. Removal of the tree alone has been estimated at $975, since it's nearly impossible to get the big equipment back to where the tree came to rest.
Upon further inspection, we discovered that the beautiful, old 80' Norway spruce in front of our house had fallen on our house.
It hit lengthwise near the peak of the roof, then most of it rolled off. It was a victim of the high winds we had during the night. I've attached pictures.No one was hurt. The damage is much less than it could have been. Our home is over 120 years old, and built of native timber. It can withstand quite a blow. It was a bit freaky, though. For the rest of the day the view out every westward window was tree branches.
We were supposed to have had a house guest that night. One of our DS's friends had a college friend coming into town who needed a place for the night. At the last minute, she found a place with another friend. Can you imagine how frightening it would have been for her to be sleeping in the house of strangers when that happened?
We're just thankful that it:
- didn't hit our LP tank, taking out our heat or starting a fire.
- missed our electrical box by mere inches, leaving our electricity flowing.
- didn't fall the other direction, where it would have totaled The Furry Guy's van.
- didn't take out a single window, which was a real possibility with all those branches.
Friends and family came over on Monday, after the winds had died down, and helped The Furry Guy to move the tree and cover the damaged areas of the roof. It crunched in a bit of the drywall in the storage room where it hit, but we hadn't gotten around to remodeling that room yet.
The biggest annoyance at the moment is that it took out our tv antenna. It's really a minor annoyance, though.
Our baby boy has flown back to Texas. We're in the process of gathering estimates for the insurance company. Removal of the tree alone has been estimated at $975, since it's nearly impossible to get the big equipment back to where the tree came to rest.
