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100-foot tree falls onto house in Cobble Hill during windstorm

Cost of damage yet to be determined

Cobble Hill’s Marie Doak thought her husband Keith had dropped something heavy when she heard a loud thump in their home just after noon on May 19.

But she quickly discovered that a large, approximately 100-foot evergreen tree had blown over during the windstorm that struck the area at that time and came down to rest on their house.

Keith said he was also startled by the noise of the tree striking the house, and was relieved it had not done more damage to the couple’s home, located on Allen Road.

He said one large branch had gone through his roof and punched a small hole in the ceiling of the living room, but it could have been a lot worse.

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“Even though trees were coming down all over the place at the time, this was considered an emergency so some workers from a tree company came by just about two hours after the tree fell and cut off the top 20 feet to take some of the pressure off the house, and cut away a lot of branches from the top,” Keith said.

“They also patched up the roof in areas that needed it to prevent rain from getting in until we can remove the tree. We need to bring in a crane to lift the tree from the house and we’ve been told that it could take anywhere from two days to a week because the crane companies are pretty busy after the windstorm.”

Keith said the couple have lived in the house for 25 years and this is the first time something like this has ever happened.

“We cut back a lot of trees over the years so they wouldn’t fall on the house, but it seems we missed one,” he said.

“The tree looked strong and well rooted so we left it, but it looks like we got caught.”

Keith said his insurance company can’t estimate the costs of the damage to the house until the tree is removed.



robert.barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com

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Robert Barron

About the Author: Robert Barron

Since 2016, I've had had the pleasure of working with our dedicated staff and community in the Cowichan Valley.
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