A Tree Smashed Through My Roof and I’m Lucky

Last Saturday a freak snowstorm descended on the New York metropolitan area.  My town in northern New Jersey only got about 4 inches of snow, but it was a wet and heavy snow and it didn’t take much to do a lot of damage.  There are still trees and branches down all over the place and many people are still without power.

I had woken early on Saturday because we were having some friends and family over to celebrate my son’s second birthday and there were lots of last minute things to be done.  Judging by the forecasts it looked like there would be some messy road conditions but nothing too bad, at least not until everyone had gone home.  Unfortunately, the storm hit faster and more furiously than anyone expected.

Our backyard is often described as “park-like” since it has dozens of trees and backs up to a wooded area and a small pond.  I wasn’t shocked when I noticed a few branches fall under the weight of the snow.  The weight of the snow, combined with the fact that the trees were still full of leaves made for a terrible combination as many branches just couldn’t support the additional weight.

It was about 2:00 PM and my wife was in the kitchen making a salad while I gave our 3 kids a bath.  My son was all dressed and playing in his room.  One of my daughters was still drying herself off while I was rinsing the shampoo out of my other daughter’s hair.  Then all hell broke loose.

The lights started flickering and I told my daughter we should get some candles and flashlights ready.  Just then the lights went out altogether and there was the loudest crash I ever heard followed by the sound of sparks flying right outside my bedroom window.  I instantly knew what had happened.  The tree alongside our house had fallen and ripped the electrical lines right off our house.  The tree actually split in two.  Half fell away from the house and landed on my lawn and into my neighbor’s driveway (they weren’t home thankfully).  The other half landed on my house and came crashing through the roof and into the attic.

There were a few moments of panic as the kids were terrified and my wife and I tried to make sure no one was hurt as assess the situation.  I knew the tree hit the house but it hadn’t come into the living areas…if it had I probably wouldn’t be writing this.  I didn’t want everyone to run outside with live electrical lines down outside so I slipped out the backdoor and carefully came around the house to see how bad it was.

The tree had it the very tip of the house, probably the best possible place since the weight was spread out evenly through the rafters.  The power lines were down and the other half of the tree had fallen forward and hadn’t done any real damage, but part of those branches had landed on the main power lines along the street and I was afraid those could come down too.

The fire department came soon enough and told us that if we had another place to stay, we should go just to be safe.  We tried to get to my sister’s house 30 minutes away but the roads were packed, so we ended up staying with our friends a few blocks away.  We spent the night there and then checked into a nearby Howard Johnson until we finally got power restored late Tuesday night.

It cost about $4000 to get the tree removed from my house and yard and another $4600 to get the roof repaired.  Hopefully insurance will cover all of that but that’s a whole other post I think.  Add in $200 for the hotel room, several restaurant bills that were needed since we couldn’t cook at home, and the cost of replacing everything in my refrigerator and it has been one expensive week!

Oh yea…we didn’t get internet, phone, or television back until late Thursday night so I couldn’t even get online to write or work on my blog!  Plus, my work laptop had to be handed in while I waited for a new one because the IT department detected a Trojan on it which could steal information.  That means I had to go and change all my credit card and banking login info too!

Yesterday I spent about 4 1/2 hours in the backyard with my reciprocating saw.  I had to cut up numerous trees and branches and drag them into the woods in the backyard.  At least it was a nice day for manual labor!

Why I Feel Lucky

After the week I had, you might think I’d be depressed or feeling sorry for myself.  But I actually feel incredibly lucky.  Why??

Well first of all my family is alive.  It could have been very different if the whole tree had hit my house instead of half missing it.  Another house in my town had to be condemned because a tree basically split it down the middle right to the foundation.  So yea, it could have been a lot worse.  My wife probably would have been safe in the kitchen, but she broke down crying when she realized her entire family could have been wiped out.

I also feel lucky because we were able to get our lives back to normal so fast.  My wife and I worked like a tag team calling tree removal services, roofers, the insurance company, and the power company.   There are still thousands of people without power but we have managed to get everything back up and running.

I’m lucky that we had money set aside in our emergency fund to cover the cost of all the damage until we get reimbursed from the insurance company (they’re already being a pain in the ass but that’s another story).

Finally, I’m lucky that we have friends that were willing to take us in during our time of need.  My brother-in-law offered to help too.  And many of our other friends consistently called or texted to make sure we were ok and offer to help.

Despite a week of adversity that really tested the limits of our patience, we pulled together and made it through as a family.  The financial cost is not appreciated, but in the end it could have been much, much worse.

Tagged as: roof, tree