Rude awakening

[divingbiker]

Got startled awake by half a huge tree falling down in my front yard not long ago. It pulled down the power, cable, and phone lines, yet miraculously all are still working. Half the fascia board and the gutter on the house are down also. My neighbor's cable and phone lines are down and draped across my car. The tree is blocking the road, and I'm waiting for the police and electric folks to come and deal with the power lines and block off the street.

I've called the insurance company. I put one of my flashing bike blinkies in the street to let cars know to slow down.

Any of you night owls have any idea what else I could/should be doing?

(Very sad about the tree. It was a beautiful old maple.)

[lph]

Whoah! Very smart idea that blinkie, btw.

[divingbiker]

Cops just came and said the county roads dept and Pepco will take care of it, so I'm off to bed.

[Mr. Bloom]

Glad you weren't hurt or suffering more damage. You're very lucky that someone else is taking care of it. That wouldn't be the case in my world;)

[OakLeaf]

Eek! So sad about the tree, but good you're okay and your house still keeps water out (it sounds like?!)

Hope you got some sleep. We barely got a wink here with all the lightning and thunder. It's still going - and looks like it'll keep it up most of the day.

[divingbiker]

Now that it's light, here's what it looks like. Police tape is blocking off the whole street till the roads people come. We're supposed to have storms later, so I hope I can figure out a way to cover the exposed area where the fascia used to be.

I think I'll probably have to remove some of the tree that's not blocking the road, and the cable and phone companies will have to reattach their cables. What a pain.


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[KnottedYet]

Oh, goodness! Glad it didn't land *on* the house. and the bike blinkie was a great idea!

[Tuckervill]

Yes, I'm so glad it missed the house!

If you tell your insurance company that water is going to get in, they will usually send someone to put a tarp over that part. Unless there's widespread damage in your area, which would mean they're too busy.

We've lost three trees since we moved into this house, so I feel for ya.

Karen

[divingbiker]

I love my neighborhood!

One of the guys who parks on my street all the time came to the door this morning and said he'd take care of whatever part of the tree the county left behind. And he helped me put a tarp over the exposed area and reconnected the gutter as well as could be done, given that it's all bent up. Might as well give my neighbor some business and let the insurance company pay him.

I feel much better now that I don't have to wait for State Farm's contractor to show up and do that job today.

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[Zen]

It pulled down the power, cable, and phone lines, yet miraculously all are still working. Half the fascia board and the gutter on the house are down also.

I'd say you were lucky.
Isn't home ownership wonderful?
(Please, SOMEONE buy my house)

[tc1]

Please tell me the power co has been out there since your photo? That service looks like crap! It appears from the pic the service is touching your aluminum gutter? And part of the garage? If I was sent on that field call (and I have been on hundreds) I would call for the service crew, and tell the customer that the crew will probably cut them for safety. 120V does kill people. It would be the crew's decision, of course. Which would also explain why there is no update-no juice means no computer.

You should have your meter base and associated parts inspected by an electrician. If you are cut for safety if any of your gear is bad, you will need an electrician anyway. And you will have to figure out where the new attachment point for the services will be, with a brick house your choices are limited.

[divingbiker]

Please tell me the power co has been out there since your photo? That service looks like crap! It appears from the pic the service is touching your aluminum gutter? And part of the garage? If I was sent on that field call (and I have been on hundreds) I would call for the service crew, and tell the customer that the crew will probably cut them for safety. 120V does kill people. It would be the crew's decision, of course. Which would also explain why there is no update-no juice means no computer.

You should have your meter base and associated parts inspected by an electrician. If you are cut for safety if any of your gear is bad, you will need an electrician anyway. And you will have to figure out where the new attachment point for the services will be, with a brick house your choices are limited.

It is a half-a$$ed rigged up mess, isn't it? But I still have electrical service. I think they left it that way since it was connected to the fascia board that came down when the tree pulled on the electrical wire, and until that board is put back up by the contractor they just rigged it up.

I'm certainly not going to call the power company to tell them it's unsafe, because I could be without power for days with all the storms and outages we've had around here.

Thanks for the info and concern. I'll be sure to get an electrician out once the house is repaired.

[bmccasland]

Divingbiker - umm, a small warning... the contractor doing your roof / facia repair may want the power turned off before they do the work since it's in the damaged section, or really close.

And many thanks to neighborlyness of the guy that parks on the street for offering to help. At least you have a patch that should hold for a little while. Give that man a some cookies, or beer!