In Virginia (VA) we take pride in some of the very old trees that have been standing for over 100 years, but every so often these trees are the cause of emergency roof repairs. Our part of the state gets hammered hard at times by some very insistent storms and when a tree becomes weak at the base, it’s not long before the wind takes it down.
We received a call from a distraught home owner during a particularly bad storm. It was in the afternoon with near tornado conditions. Our crews were all busy responding to emergency calls, but when this one came in, we decided to make it a priority. Arriving at the scene we found a disaster. A beautiful, old maple tree had come down and smashed one corner of the roof to bits.
There was broken glass everywhere from the upper story windows and a gaping hole in the roof above one of the bedrooms. The house was getting flooded. We went to work with two chainsaws, ropes and pulleys. It took an hour to get the top section of the tree cut away from the house and then we could tarp the entire roof. It was not necessary to clear away the remaining debris right away. The immediate problem was the volume of rain pouring through the hole. We stopped it before any more water damage occurred. The home owner was sorry the tree had to be destroyed but was thankful we were able to handle the emergency roof repairs quickly.
