A couple in Moline is displaced after a neighbor’s tree landed on their house during Monday’s storm. The storm has left quite a mess behind and some neighbors are still without power.
Lucy Hotchkiss lives on 11th Avenue A in Moline. She was at work during the storm. On her way home from work she noticed something odd in her yard.
“I came up the hill and first noticed my one tree was missing and then I realized it was in my neighbors house.”
Hotchkiss has a couple large Oak Tree’s in her yard that were over 150 years old. During Monday’s storm one of them fell over and split her neighbor’s house in half.
“My heart just sank. I saw that and I knew right away their house was destroyed and it is. The second floor is down into their dining room.”
Luckily no one was home when the tree stuck the house.
“It’s a good thing this didn’t happen at night because they would have been right up there where that tree went in. They would have been in their bed sleeping. So it’s a good thing this storm happened in the middle of the day.”
The good news for her neighbors is that their insurance will be paying for a brand new house in the same location. Hotchkiss says it was interesting watching her tree get removed from her neighbors house.
“It was amazing that they were so skilled, the way that they took it out and the way that they removed the branches and carfully got it out. I was worried about it buckling back and hitting my house and my foundation, but they’re pros. They did a wonderful job.”
Branches from another oak tree fell down on Hotchkiss’s home and she recommends avoiding the area.
“Whatever you do, don’t come and walk down the sidewalk.”
