I'm here to tell you though that I can provide an answer if we rephrase the question. Let's ask it this way - if a tree fell on your house would it make a sound? If you happened to be home - I can attest with first hand testimony that yes, it would; and did make a sound. A big sound. A sound that would roust you out of bed like Michael Vick at the Westminster Kennel Clug dog show.
On Friday August 10 our alarms had just gone off, about 4:00 AM. Hit the snooze control once, then twice - and then at 4:20 their was an enormous splintering sound and a thundering crash that shook the entire house. When up on the roof there arose such a clatter, Sherry and I sprang from our bed to see what was the matter. I immediately thought it was an earthquake, but Sherry knew that a tree had fallen. Talk about a 'root' awakening! Ha ha - get it - 'root', 'rude'?
We ran downstairs and looked out the sliding glass door that separates our dining room from the back deck. A horrible sight greeted our amazed eyeballs. Like a terrifying visage of Medusa, a tangle of tree trunks, branches, shattered fences land deck furniture were arranged in a swath of destruction, culminating in the piercing of our roof with such force that several limbs were driven through the roof and emerged from our ceiling!
Sherry called the fire department, and they were here in minutes. No electrical circuits were severed, and the base structure seemed intact enough that there was no imminent danger of the ceiling collapsing.Initially Sherry did not see the limb to the left poking through the ceiling, as her focus was on the damage we could see outside. She turned around, saw the limb and screamed like a little girl. I thought maybe a squirrel had survived the fall and was running around our house like Lindsay Lohan in a rehab facitility.
As we took it all in, we noticed a long limb, maybe 3 feet; that was laying on the dining room floor. We had not really questioned it's origin of entry into the house. As we began to calm down we realized that in the several holes puncturing the ceiling, as far as we could discern it had not entered vertically but horizontally, as if someone had thrown a spear through the roof.When the sun arose, we ventured outside and saw just how bad the damage was. The tree had fallen from our neighbor's yard, breaking through 3 fences before the bulk of the tree hit our house. I went over to talk to Pearl. She and her husband had lived on their land, a little hobby farm stuck in the middle of the city since 1952. She's a spry little thing and I'm guessing she is in her early eighties. She was amazed at the damage, and then showed me her corn. Yes Pearl, your corn is amazing...now about that insurance information? Bless her heart.
Sherry doesn't look terribly happy, does she? She's either stepped in some dog poop or is sad about the devestation of our little house. We now enter the twighlight zone of insurance companies and contractors. To date I must say that State Farm has been amazingly responsive, proactive and helpful. Within two days all the debris had been cleared off and a FEMA blue tarp spread over the roof like a loving mom tucking in her child at night. Because at least one truss was damaged, the entire roof will be removed in the area you see above. Needless to say that activity will render our home uninhabitable for at least a week. The insurance adjustor said that they'll put us up in a hotel or even rental home as long as it is needed. He commented that there is a Residence Inn just down the street. I countered by saying that I had been proactive and no rooms are available for the next three months, but the Hilton downtown has some vacancies. He kind of smiled and said, well you got to do what you got to do!
Room service, here we come.
