Tree Destroys One Home, Damages Another

ROCK HILL, S.C.,None — There was no storm and no wind, but plenty of warning when a huge oak tree crushed a home in Rock Hill Thursday morning.

SLIDESHOW: Tree Crushes Rock Hill House

The family at the house on Annafrel Street had watched the nearly 100-year-old tree for months and noticed a rapidly widening crack at one of the branches.

Hearing a thunderous crash, Becky Talley worried instantly about her 64-year-old mother, who can't walk.

"God was with us, because my mother shouldn't be with us today. She was asleep in that front room," Talley said.

The tree destroyed the house and severely damaged Tracy Evans' home next door.

"I saw the crack growing wider all this week as I watched it," Evans said.

On Thursday morning, he was just leaving home to go fishing when he heard a cracking sound.

"I got in my car and moved it out to the curb," he said. "I was going to go warn them people, and before I got over there I seen it fall."

The Talley family got out safely, all seven of them, but they can't understand why nothing was done beforehand.

"We've complained about this to everyone. Everybody knew about this tree, and nobody wanted to do anything to help us," Talley said. "Now, the house is destroyed and everything we have is gone."

The Talleys rent the home from Hoang Tren. He said he knew about the damaged tree for about a month.

"The tree is on both properties, and I was talking to them," Tren said.

Because the tree sits on two lots, both property owners would have to work out how to pay for its removal. Evans owns the other lot, but said he couldn't pay thousands of dollars to remove the tree and wasn't sure how the problem would be solved.

Instead, the problem solved itself, damaging his home and destroying another.

Ironically, Rock Hill city officials got involved just one day before the tree toppled. City forester Clark Beavans just received a work order to inspect the tree on Wednesday. It came in after utility employee working on Annafrel Street saw the damage to the tree.

The city can get involved if it's clear that the tree is a hazard or a public nuisance, which it was in this case.

Beavans inspected the tree and knew it had to come down quickly.

"It was a situation where the tree needed to be taken care of in 15 days. We usually allow 30 days," Beavans said.

Instead, the tree fell less than 15 hours later. Beavans said it made him sick when he got the news Thursday morning.

"I was so glad nobody was hurt," he said.

Beavans said a tree on private property is the responsibility of the property owner, not the city. However, after the collapse, city utility crews cut back the remaining branches to balance the weight so the entire tree wouldn't fall over.

As for the Talleys, the American Red Cross is putting them up in a hotel for three nights and providing food and clothes.

"We just thought we had another week or two before this happened," Talley said. "Before it cracked apart and fell like this."

City officials said you should report any concerns about a tree immediately and have the tree inspected.

WSOC