Severe storms rolled through the D.C. area Saturday, leaving behind damaged and downed trees that in one instance caused serious damage to a Northwest home.
D.C. Fire and EMS say they were called to the home on 17th Street in the Shepherd Park neighborhood around 5:15 a.m. Two people were displaced.
Photos show the massive tree uprooted, tipping toward the home, plus splintered wood inside the home.
"I was leaving to go over to Bethesda a couple of hours ago and I suddenly saw this tree with its roots up,” a neighbor, Graham, said. “It's sort of what we all live in terror of, because there are a lot of big trees around here.”
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First responders searched the home and said no one was trapped or injured. Officials from the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs and Urban Forestry were called.
Power outages have also been reported.
"It's something that we are paying attention to all the time," Marina, who lives right next door to the damaged residence, said.
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She said both she and her neighbor were concerned about the tree along with a second one they share on their properties.
"We have to be careful," Marina said. "We have this tree checked every year, so we make sure that everything is safe."
The tree came down as rain soaked the region for the second consecutive day. Officials didn't say why the tree may have fallen.
That's exactly what Milton Munoz from Milton's Tree Care Service suggests that homeowners, especially ahead of the upcoming storm season, "call somebody with a certification and have them inspect the tree."
"[They should] remove dead branches, crown thinning properly - about 5-10%, no more than that," Munoz said. "If the tree is decaying, the potential of the tree falling on the property is higher. At that point, we would have to make a decision to remove the tree or reduce the size of that tree properly."
Several trees have fallen in the region, including in Alexandria.
If you're concerned about a tree, you can contact your local forestry department.
