The combination of age and recent rains are being blamed for the collapse of part of a tree atop a house on Ravenscroft Street early Tuesday morning.
Jack Gist said he and his wife Mary were asleep when he heard a sound that for a moment had him believing there was a tornado above their home at 300 Ravenscroft St.
“I was in bed about 12:30 this morning and I heard a loud roar-like noise on the roof,” Gist said. “I thought it was a tornado at first.
“When I went to the window to look I saw debris and tree limbs in the yard,” he said. “That’s when I knew the tree had fell on the house.”
The tree, which stands at the back of and at angle from the Gists’ home, was still standing. A large section of it had split and toppled onto the Gists’ house, covering the length and width of their roof, and wrapping itself around part of the building with some of its still attached limbs resting in the front yard and others in the back. Even though it fell on the roof of the Gists’ home, the section of the tree that landed on their house was still attached to the rest of the tree Tuesday morning forming a makeshift bridge between it and the building.
“I think it just broke from old age and a lot of the rain we’ve had,” Gist said of the tree splitting and falling on his house.
Gist said neither he nor his wife were injured and despite a huge chunk of tree laying atop their house, they’d been able to stay in it the rest of the night and even go back in the house while waiting on their landlord to bring in personnel to remove the tree. He said he had no idea of the extent of the damage, but added that all in all he and his wife were very fortunate.
“I’m just glad we walked out of it,” Gist said.
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