Diane and I were watching the NBC Nightly News when there was a bright flash of light in our backyard. Then, the BOOOM! When we looked out, we saw one of our tall trees toppled by a lightning strike and it demolished our neighbor’s shed.
Diane, who is always thinking, told me: “Call the tree service and get on their list.” So I called Kelley Tree Service (no relation) that we’ve used before and the wife of the Tree Guy said, “We’ll drive over to your house to scope it out in a half hour.” That’s why we love these people!
Sure enough, the Tree Couple arrived in a half hour and we all walked out to assess the damage. There were tree limbs everywhere! Plus our neighbor’s shed was crushed. The Tree Guy told us: “We can clean this all up tomorrow. We’ll be here around noon. It will cost about $2000.”
Our home insurance deductible is $2500 so Diane and I knew we would be paying for this tree damage. I called AMICA INSURANCE and asked them about whether we would have to pay for our neighbor’s shed. “No, that lightning strike is an Act of God. Your neighbor’s insurance will have to pay for it.”
The next day the Tree Crew showed up with trucks, tractors, wood chippers, and a bucket truck with an Aerial Lift. The chain saws were busy buzzing and cutting. The chipper was grinding up the leaves and limbs. One of the trucks hauled the logs and stumps away. The whole operation took a couple hours. When the job was done and the Tree Crew were packing up their equipment, I went out and tipped each member $20. “Thank you for doing such a great job,” I told them. They worked in 90 degree heat with high humidity.
More lightning storms are predicted for the 4th of July weekend so this might not be over! Have you encountered a lightning strike?
Not that close!
Good thing it didn’t hit anyone or your house or car, right? Also, that you have reliable people who can come out right away and do the job right.
And you can afford it!
Lightning is scary.
Jeff, lightning sure is scary! And big trees–planted by the previous owners–can cause a lot of damage. Luckily, we have a deep backyard and this tree was a 100 feet from out house. But…right next door to our neighbor’s now destroyed shed.
A neighbor’s pine tree destroyed a good portion of our roof when it hit the house during Hurricane Katrina (thank God we weren’t home when it happened). Then in 2019, during a relatively mild weather event (occasional wind gusts but nothing terrible), Julia and I were sitting in the couch watching a movie and suddenly we heard what we thought was an enormous clap of thunder. “Wow, that was loud,” I said, and then the two of us watched in horror as a tree by our back patio slowly fell and hit our house (in my mind, it seems like it happened in slow motion, but it took place in a matter of seconds). The tree took out our laundry room and about a third of our kitchen. When the tree service came by the remove the tree, I asked for an estimate to remove the three remaining trees that were close enough to damage the house if they fell. Yes, it cost $10,000 (plus our wind & hail deductible to get the roof fixed) but after living through it twice, I didn’t want a “three-peat”…or should I say “tree-peat”?
Deb, trees can cause havoc. Just three blocks over, Diane’s friend Johanna had a tree fall and take out the power lines. She was without power for three days!
Sorry, George. Good DIane was on the ball.
Patti, the Tree Guy told us he had a dozen calls after he answered Diane’s. We were at the top of the list and everything got cleaned up the next day. But those other people may have to wait days until they get their tree damage taken care of.
George, I assume you went immediately outside, looked to the sky, and yelled, “Ha ha! you missed me!” And then thumbed your nose.
Jerry, I don’t want to tempt FATE. I’m just glad our house wasn’t hit by lightning! We have several trees in the backyard so losing one is no big deal.
Yet another reason I’m happy not to be a homeowner.
Jeff, there are pluses and minuses to home ownership. Actually Katie owns the house we’re living in–we had a lawyer transfer it. We get to live here and pay the bills, but when we leave…it’s Katie’s. We ere going to put Patrick in the mix…but he said,”I’m fine. Give the house to Katie.”
Nice parents. Will she live there?
Jeff, Katie’s future plans are unclear. She loves Boston, but she may want to return to Western NY when she retires. Katie and Patrick both have a lot of friends here.
We had some pretty wild weather last night but nothing this bad. Glad no one was hurt.
God bless responsible homeowners.
Beth, that top photo shows what lightning can do to big tree! The lightning fried it as it brought the tree down! We were lucking indeed!
I hate trees that are within 100 feet of the house, but we have some! There were 6 or 7 big trees along the north side that were growing like mad and one even dropped a limb that pierced my garage roof like a spear! It cost me $700 to have them all removed. They were only about eight feet from the house! Then, on the other side of the fence on the same side, a neighbor’s huge trees made a mess of our cars and driveway and finally dropped a lot of huge branches, which miraculously didn’t damage anything! But I’d had enough! I told them I’d pay half if they’d have those trees removed! Two trees, $1500 from my pocket! No lightening damage so far, but lightening isn’t much of a factor around here!
On the upside, I made $1800 at the Queen today!
Bob, congratulations on the $1800 win! Diane and I haven’t planted any trees but the previous owners planted a dozen all over the property…and many too close to the house. After the 2006 October Surprise Storm, we had six trees removed because they were too close to the house. But, we still have big trees in the backyard–like the one that lightning struck–that are worrisome…
I won’t have trees, but the house behind my neighbor next door has a big tree that’s in power lines. I paid to have it trimmed for YEARS as the owner wouldn’t do it. I even paid for it to be done on my neighbors yard. He just had it trimmed but only his yard. SDG&E isn’t doing anything about the owner not doing anything (it’s over the easement). A sub contractor reported it last year but nothing was done so I’m calling my councilman next week. Glad you were relatively lucky.
Maggie, that tree situation sounds like a disaster waiting to happen!
I won’t have trees, but the house behind my neighbor next door has a big tree that’s in power lines. I paid to have it trimmed for YEARS as the owner wouldn’t do it. I even paid for it to be done on my neighbors yard. He just had it trimmed but only his yard. SDG&E isn’t doing anything about the owner not doing anything (it’s over the easement). A sub contractor reported it last year but nothing was done so I’m calling my councilman next week. Glad you were relatively lucky.
Sorry for all the hassles. We’ve some small trees that we’ve needed to trim, and one that died in the front yard at an earlyish age which Alice had removed before I moved in…but no serious threats…hadn’t thought of how lucky we’ve been…knocking wood, indeed.
The town planted a sapling in front of our house this spring, in the grass between the sidewalk and the street…we’ll see how that baby does.
Been waiting for a day when I can mow the lawn again without the heat wave killing the grass.
Todd, we have both heat–90s–and rain. The forecast is for rain and thunderstorms the next FOUR DAYS!
Todd, at one time, most houses in this area had Lightning Rods as standard equipment. That seems to have gone away…