The American Red Cross of Maine is helping a Vassalboro family after a large tree landed on their roof and damaged their home.
Vassalboro fire officials say the incident happened Friday afternoon on Priest Hill Road.
Four family members were at home at the time. One woman went to the hospital with a minor injury.
Fire officials say a large gust of wind blew over the rotting tree and into the roof.
Neighbors say that they felt the wind, but didn’t expect anything bad to happen.
“Well last night we did have some high wind,” said neighbor Jeanie O’Keefe. “But you just never know. I mean, that’s Mother nature at work, so you just never know.”
One family in Vassalboro says they’re shaken up after a tree falls through the roof due to wind. One girl is hurt with a concussion pic.twitter.com/wLW5V3DPeZ
— Taylor Cairns (@TaylorWGME) September 2, 2017
Responding workers and neighbors say that the situation is unfortunate, but that it shows the importance of tree upkeep during dry season.
“They ought to have an arborist check stuff and make sure they don’t have any trees that are rotted like this one is,” said Steve Dotsie, a roof builder.
“I actually put mulch around my trees, that helps to keep the moisture around it,” said O’Keefe
CBS 13 Meteorologist Adam Epstein says that Vassalboro experienced winds as high as 32 miles per hour on Friday, which is a little less than half the speed of a category one hurricane.
Cleanup crews worked all morning to remove the tree and debris.
CBS 13 spoke with the family renting the house, and they say that the Salvation Army is currently helping them find temporary housing.
Fire officials say the house sustained significant damage, and that the house might be uninhabitable.
Dotsie says that as tragic as the situation is, with only one minor injury, the family is lucky that nothing worse happened.
“Like the saying goes, it could always be worse. We could be in Texas right now,” he said.
Crews are expected to work on the roof all weekend.