When we went outside, we saw that a couple of major limbs had fallen on the house. The fall damaged the corner of the house and put a foot-size hole in our bedroom. We then realized we were lucky to be alive. One of the tree's limbs had been just above the roof. I think that when the tree fell, the limb over the roof caused the tree to deflect more to the front yard than to the house. The main trunk of the tree landed on the grass.
Neighbors a street away heard the noise and came to see what happened. A tree company came within an hour of being called and was able to remove much of the tree before dusk.
Our insurance is paying for everything but our $500 deductible and removal of tree parts that fell on the ground. The damaged part of the roof will need to be repaired and re-roofed. Home restorers put a plastic tarp over the affected areas. The living room has a crack in the wall corner, ceiling and south wall. The picture windows in our family room were smashed. No glass entered the room because we have plastic solar protection on the interior window. DD and her daughters are sleeping there; thank goodness there aren't any glass shards.
Luckily DD2 wasn't home and her daughters weren't riding on the sidewalk or playing in the yard. It could have been much, much worse. The Building Works superintendent said if the main trunk had fallen on the house, it would have destroyed it.
This is the third home crisis in our family in just a couple of weeks. I now believe that bad luck comes in threes. My SIL had lightening strike her home and DD1 had a toilet overflow and damage her oak flooring, carpeting, and doors. She sold her home last month and is moving on Tuesday.
We are happy to be alive and thank God that we were kept safe.
Gloria
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I have to agree - looking at the size of that tree, it could have been a lot worse. I'm sure glad it wasn't.
Many of our neighbors have old oaks, too and are pretty nervous.