ST. GEORGE, Utah - Strong winds toppled a 60-year-old tree during an afternoon storm Thursday; the tree damaged a home, but, luckily, no one was home.
The National Weather Service recorded wind speeds at 36 miles per hour around 1:30 in the afternoon, with 49 mile an hour gusts. The main part of the tree fell in the yard of the home on 200 West, just scraping the neighbors, but some large branches went through the roof.
Homeowner Rayne Garner said his family wasn’t home at the time, but he wasn’t surprised when a neighbor called to give him the news.
“He never calls me,” Garner said. “So once I got that call from him, he’s like, ‘oh, so you haven’t heard anything yet?’ and I knew what it was.”
Garner said the majority of the damage to his house happened on the outside with the branches scraping the roof and breaking some trim. Only one branch caused major damage to the inside.
“In my daughter’s room, there’s one branch came through the ceiling,” Garner said. “[It] left a hole probably about one-by-one. That’s the only major damage I’ve seen so far.”
City crews responded and cleared the tree off the home within a few hours.
