A tree fell on my Dad's house

[ZMAN]

I got a call today at 4:00 pm that Dad's 50 year old willow tree fell on his house today.
I rushed in and found that half of the tree had broken off and landed mainly on his deck and patio tent.
Luckily he had been sitting there about half an hour before but had gone inside to check on something on his computer. He is 84.
The weird thing was that after all those high winds it didn't even move. Then today with no wind at all it crashes down.
We are waiting until the insurance people come by tomorrow. We cut a few of the smaller branches out of the way and it looks as if part of his deck is trashed, along with the lights and the rather expensive patio tent is also trashed. It didn't do any visisble damage to the house itself, and both the rear window and the sliding door were not damaged. The piece that broke off is at least 8 feet in diameter.
It looks as if it was totally eaten away by carpenter ants. The center is just one big ant nest. The tree was healthy and looks very strong.
It will have to come down now for sure.
Just happy no one was injured.

[Spudman]

Glad to hear nobody was hurt. It's so sad when those old trees go because it took so long for them to grow and get big.

[progrmr]

8 feet in diameter???!!!! Wow! VERY lucky no one was hurt.

My neighbors have 2 huge maple trees in their backyard that if blown on correctly I think could some down on my house - certainly my shed - and smash anything they'd hit to bits. Worries me a lot.

I'm glad to hear your Dad wasn't hurt. Still freakin' scary.

[ZMAN]

Yes it was a big old willow. Luckily they have a fairly thick trunk and thin branches. It still crushed the deck and Patio tent.
I have an insurance adjuster coming today. We cleared some of the smaller branches to get access to the back yard.
There is a window and a glass sliding door there also. The tree was up against the door but did not break it.
We are very lucky. He often sits and snoozes in a lounger on the deck. He had just gone inside the house.

[R_of_G]

Sorry to hear about the damage to dad's house but like everyone else, I'm glad there was no damage to your dad or anyone else. I hope his insurance company takes care of the damage for him.

[ZMAN]

When we got the tree off the deck there was actually minimal damage. The Gazebo tent (500) was trashed and the front railing will be replaced but other than that it was an amazing testament to my Dad's well engineered and contstructed deck. It has been up for at least 25 years and the wood that splintered was sitll clean and sturday. I was able to screw most of it back in place until the construcrtion crew replaces it.
The major expense will be getting the rest of the tree down and removing all the debris.
We figured out it is a 60 year old willow.
JUst very thankful he wasn't out there when it happened.
Don't want to even go there!