The top of a large oak tree broke off and crashed into a carport and part of a Salem home early Saturday morning.
Sarah Buchanan of 324 William Street was still asleep when she heard an extremely loud noise. When she went into her living room, she found the top of the tree had penetrated the outside wall and had moved her couch six feet into the middle of the room.
Outside, the top of the tree had crashed into the carport and a portion of the roof causing heavy damage. The car inside the carport had the windshield shattered and part of the roof caved in and is expected to be a total loss.
Buchanan estimated the top part of the tree that blew down had an inch-and-a-half diameter at the breaking point.
Area police departments report numerous other tree limbs were also reported blown down from winds that were estimated at nearly 50 miles per hour. The Walnut Hill and Woods Lane intersection was closed for a while Saturday morning when a power pole broke causing low-hanging power lines.
The Centralia City Fire Department was called out ten times Saturday morning to downed or arcing power lines. There were no reports of serious building damage reports in Centralia.
The Alma Weather Station reported 81-hundredths of an inch of rain and a top wind gust of 46 miles per hour at 10:18 Saturday morning. Through seven Saturday morning, 78-hundredths of an inch of rain was reported at the Salem Water Plant with 75-hundredths of an inch at the Centralia Water Treatment Plant.
The top of an oak tree fell onto a home at 324 William Street in Salem early Saturday morning, punching through an outside wall and damaging the carport and a vehicle underneath it. Photo by Bruce Kropp.
A carport was crushed and a car underneath was damaged when the top of a large oak tree fell during strong winds Saturday morning. Photo by Bruce Kropp.
