Tree falls on 2 Butler homes
Daniel Lewis heard the estimated 100-year-old tree graze his home as it fell onto a neighboring home during severe storms Thursday night, March 26.
“The ground was shaking,” the Oak Street resident said about hearing the tree fall.
The tree that fell Thursday night in the city is one of the many that have toppled in the past few weeks.
Weather conditions are not the only reason for trees large and small falling down in Butler County recently, the National Weather Service said. How wet the ground is, how close the tree is to a house or how old or rotten it is can matter more.
But strong winds are certainly an impact, said Andrew Kienzle of the NWS Pittsburgh station.
“We’ve had a couple of severe wind events this season, like thunderstorms tracking over the Butler area,” Kienzle said. “Storms that aren’t necessarily severe, but they still get wind gusts up to 50, 60 mph.
“They can be enough to bring down old rotten trees that don’t have great root systems. That makes it easy.”
The tree near Lewis’ house fell between 8:30 and 9 p.m. Thursday night. It damaged a hand rail leading to his backyard and was leaning against his home. Lewis estimated the tree to be four feet in diameter.
The home next door had substantial damage to its roof and gutters, Lewis said.
He said he had to leave his home for an appointment Friday morning but was not interested going under the downed tree. He wasn’t sure how supported it was.
