A tree fell on our house

In the crazy northeast weather that hit over this past weekend, we had wind. Well, first we had steady, streaming rain. About 2.5 inches over the course of a day, which is nothing compared to NYC but was significant here. Then came the wind. Fifty or sixty mile per hour winds howled and moaned and whistled. The dog sat shivering in the bathroom, her happy spot, and we all just hunkered down inside.

Sunday night we went to bed, the dog nestled in the bed between us to keep safe. At 3:30 we awoke to a crunching crash, followed by a long series of FWAP FWAP FWAP FWAP FWAPs. It lasted what seemed like a long time. It was the kind of sound that let you know something horrible was happening. I reached over and held one hand firmly on BF and one hand firmly on Marley until it was over.

When the silence began, we both sat a moment. BF flung back his covers and peered out the front windows. Branches. Branches. “I think a tree in the front fell!” I pulled back the covers, crawled out of bed and peered out the windows. One tree. The second tree. It was not a tree from the front. “That has to be a tree from the back.” Panic began to set in. We went to the back office and tried to open the door. We couldn’t. Oh god. We pushed harder, drywall adjusted, the door opened and we looked in. The ceiling was gone. The rafters were splintered. The tree was through the roof.

Pictures.

What do you do? What do you do when it’s 3:30 in the morning and there’s a tree on your house, in your house, you don’t know if you should be in your house.? What do you do? BF called the landlord. Roomie and I stumbled over the debris to pull out the computers. With each gust, the tree groaned and the rafters splintered. We’d run and close the door. As the gusts quieted, we would go back in, pulling out wires, pulling out equipment, saving what we could. The landlord said to call the fire department.

The truck pulled up. Three firemen came inside.  Marley barked and then hid. The looked in the office and told us we had to leave. They looked all over for damage, turned the electricity off at the breaker, called the gas company to cut the gas, and then waited for us to pack bags and go. Roomie called her friends, who welcomed her. We called a friend, and ex roommate, who welcomed us and the dog. The firemen waited, patiently, for us to put enough thought together to pack an overnight bag. “You can come back tomorrow; just get enough for tomorrow.” It was too much to think about.

We opened the door to leave the house. To let what would continue to happen continue without us. We had no idea what we’d come back to the next morning. BF said to Marley, “You’re going to hop in.” She knows that means get in the car, but she ran. She ran faster than I’ve seen her go. BF dropped his bags and ran after her. The firemen waited.

Finally in the car, to our friend’s, say thank you, blow up the air mattress, lie down. The wind kept howling. With each gust, I listened for creaking. For groaning. For something to tell me I was safe. I just heard the wind.

At 6am the landlord called to say that the tree removal guys were there to get started and we needed to move my car. I drove down and moved it, then drove back up. At 8am he called again and needed to get in to  take pictures. We got up, got dressed and went back to the house.

It was no worse than the night before. The hard wood sustained the weight of the tree through the night. We sat under a neighbor’s car port and watched them take the tree off the house with the crane. It was amazing to watch. It was surreal. A neighbor that we didn’t know came over with a thermos of coffee and to invite us in if we needed it. People driving by stopped to gape. We felt like disaster victims, but had really lost so little. What do people in real disasters do?

The tree was off by noon and we were able to go back in. We turned the electricity back on and powered up the computers. I had so much work to do. Nothing was the same, but most things were the same. The landlord was in and out. The insurance adjuster came. We sat in the cold, bundled, not really knowing what else to do and finding comfort in just being home. We went back to our friend’s for dinner and for the night. We still can’t stay.

The structural engineer will be there either tomorrow or Friday. After that, we’ll either be able to stay there until we move (with no heat because the furnace exhaust flue is under the tarp) or we won’t be able to stay there again. I don’t think there’s hope of being able to live there again. There are permits to be filed for the repairs, then they’ll have to remove the roof, replace the rafter system, replace the ridgeline, replace buttresses… it will be a huge, long, extensive, invasive repair. I don’t have it in me to to live in limbo for months.

We are so lucky. We lost almost nothing. The rain had stopped by the time the tree fell. No one was hurt. We have welcoming, secure places to stay for as long as we need. Our landlord is being incredibly responsive and cooperative. He’ll hand us back our security deposit and let us move on and find a new place to live if we want. We are lucky.

Limbo is hard. We want the engineer’s opinion so we can make a decision of how to move forward with certainty. We’d both love it if we didn’t have to move, but we know that’s a very slim chance for outcome.

It’s been a rough month with the root canal, the sick pup and now this, but that’s our three. It’s time to play the lottery or something, right? Focus on the good. We’re lucky and things will get better from here.