Direct Hit: Tree Falls On Home In Plum Borough

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The damage is staggering to a home in Plum Borough after it took a direct hit from a huge uprooted tree.

Homeowner Jim DeBiasse wasn't at his house Thursday afternoon when it happened.

The massive tree on a soggy hillside behind DeBiasse's home on Hialeah Drive was ripped up by its roots and then, it toppled over, smashing into his recently renovated residence. He had been hoping to put the home up for sale soon.

The ground was so saturated by recent rains, all it took was a strong gust of wind to cause the tree to fall.

DeBiasse says he got the call from the Plum building inspector Thursday afternoon -- who said he better get here in a hurry.

"I thought a tree had just brushed the house, I was going to come down here with a chain saw and, clean up the mess," he said.

Neighbor Lita Rozewicz, who lives across the street, said "I was home, I was on the phone talking to a friend, and I heard a big boom."

One local official told KDKA TV News that he was surprised more trees didn't come down in the usually quiet residential neighborhood because of the lose earth on the hillside above the development when the incident occurred.

As homeowner Jim DeBiasse was surveying all the damage he found it hard to believe that a single tree could cause so much destruction, but, he said, it could have been worse, explaining "nobody got hurt; we can fix it, or rip it down, whatever it needs."