Storm Causes Tree To Crash Into Back Of Home In Edgewood

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Throughout the summer, strong winds and lightning strikes have brought down massive trees during severe storms across the Pittsburgh region.

During Thursday's storms in Edgewood, a lightning bolt struck a large white oak tree, splitting the tree three ways behind houses on Washington Avenue and Race Street.

One-third of the tree landed on a garage and caused minor damage. Another part of the tree fell on a house and put a hole in a bathroom wall. Then on Friday morning, the last part of the tree crashed into a backyard and destroyed a fence.

"I heard a crack and then I looked out and I heard this swoosh, this slow swoosh as the tree fell over," said Donna Hansen, who heard the tree land on her garage.

"It sounded like an initial crack and then almost like thunder, but a little higher pitch," said Sean Barrett, a neighbor who also heard the tree fall.

Race Street and Washington Avenue are well-shaded and full of old trees. Homeowners like Hansen have seen trees blown over by strong winds. Trees came down just last month on her street.

"When you have those white oaks that are so big, you do wonder sometimes, especially with these storms that we've been having and the tree damage that was around the neighborhood over a month ago, but this tree we knew was in good shape, so I didn't think it would happen," Hansen said.

She just never expected lighting to strike so close to home.

"The fact that it hit the middle of the trunk and split it in three, you can see the damage on the trunk itself and one of the tree people came out and touched it and said there was ash all on his hands from the lightning strike. Luckily, the lightning didn't hit one of the houses directly," Hansen said.

KDKA saw trees that caused damage earlier this week. On Wednesday, two trees were uprooted, destroying a house on Hialeah Drive in Plum.

"There's a lot of things that need to be done in this area due to the terrain. We have a lot of hills, houses are cut into valleys. So we have a lot of large trees on hillsides, and they are all trying to get to that sun, so they are getting taller and taller," said Nathan Rowan, the owner of Rowan Works Services.

It's been a hectic summer for tree service companies like Rowan Works Services.

"A repetitive season of trees that are being blown over due to the weather, but a lot of it is lack of maintenance and lack of knowledge," said Rowan.

His best advice is to have a professional assess trees on your property that you're concerned about. They can check the stability of your trees and find the root of the problem.

"You can have them thinned out, make sure there are no vines in them, or you can have them removed," Rowan said.

More than 20,000 Duquesne Light customers lost power during Thursday's storms, and crews are still working to restore power. As of 6 p.m. on Friday, less than 2,000 customers were without power. DLC said all customers are expected to be restored by 10 p.m. Saturday.