Two roommates say windy conditions caused the tree to fall on their house damaging their roof and sunroom.
TRAVERSE CITY -- Two Traverse City women say it's windy weather that caused a maple tree to crash down onto the home they rent. They say the tree not only went through their roof, but completely destroyed their sunroom.
"I thought it was thunder rolling in and it ended up not being thunder," says Danielle Wegrecki.
The loud crackling thunder sound was instead a 65 foot maple tree crashing down onto Wegrecki and her roommate's home.
"It was pretty windy outside. I was laying on the couch with my daughter in the morning...It just kaboom, it was really, really loud and we didn't really realize how bad the damage was until my roommate got up because I screamed for her," says Wegrecki.
The women say strong wind gusts blew through their Old Mission Peninsula neighborhood early Monday morning, leaving the loud surprise behind.
"It sounded like crack, I mean you could hear the lightning crack sound. Then it just crumble, crumble, branches, branches," says Amanda Lennington.
"It did a number on the sunroom destroyed it virtually, a lot of water damage...All the paneling was coming down and a lot of water was coming in," says Wegrecki.
The roommates say they're thankful that a mess of tree limbs and water damage is the worst of the situation...especially because of where the tree landed.
"If the tree would have moved over about three or four feet it would have hit the peak of the top of the house and it would have landed square on my bedroom. So, we're lucky that way. I have to think it was a God bless the way it fell," says Wegrecki.
The roommates say they do have renter's insurance to help pay for the damages. They're estimating the costs will total close to $25 thousand.
