Just days after achieving the milestone of homeownership, Olivia Chernyshev’s new house was severely damaged by a tree falling on it during a storm.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Olivia Chernyshev saw the lightning bolt before she even made it home.
“And I saw this giant purple bolt, and it was so loud, so fast,” she said.
She rushed back to her Murray Hill neighborhood Saturday after spotting the strike near her new home. From the front, everything looked fine. But when she opened the door to her husband’s office in the back of the house, nothing could have prepared her for what she found.
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“I opened the door to his office, and it was just like getting thrown into Alice in Wonderland or something — I did not know what I was looking at,” she said.
A giant tree had fallen directly on the back of the home – the same room where her husband, a musician, does his work. The lightning strike punched holes in the roof, shattered a window, and left the interior exposed to the elements.
“It’s like a trident of force,” she said.
The couple had only closed on the home ten days before the storm.
“It did feel like home. It was so nice to be able to be in a bed that we’re sharing in this beautiful home that we own, and we’ve worked very hard to get to that point,” Chernyshev said.
Now instead of settling into their new life, they are dealing with gaping holes in the ceiling, sweltering summer heat pouring in, and fans running everywhere they can place them. Repair crews have told them walls may need to be torn out entirely.
The emotional and financial toll has been overwhelming.
“It’s been really devastating and really hard for us to like just finally move forward. We just can’t seem to do it. And yeah, I mean, how many millennials do you know that would own a house? Like it’s like a miracle that this even happened.”
The couple did have homeowner’s insurance, which will help cover the damage. A repair company has already patched the roof to hold through this weekend’s expected storms.
Luis Aleman of Aleman Insurance offered some advice for homeowners in the wake of storms like this:
Make sure surrounding trees are trimmed regularly to reduce the risk of them falling on your property. Before any storm, take photos of your home and yard so you have documentation if you need to file a claim. If something does happen, avoid making permanent repairs until the damage has been fully documented. And even if a healthy tree falls during a storm, homeowner’s insurance will typically help cover the damage.
Despite everything, Chernyshev is trying to stay focused on what is ahead.
“It’s real and it’s hard to believe but I’m really grateful for people’s help, and I just hope that we can put this behind us and come out stronger in the end.”