Powerful winds swept across the region Tuesday evening, toppling massive trees onto homes and vehicles from Philadelphia to South Jersey, narrowly avoiding serious injuries and leaving neighbors shaken.
In Philadelphia’s Chestnut Hill neighborhood, a giant pine tree crashed onto a garage apartment on Seminole Street around 7 p.m. A tenant was inside with her dog and cat when the tree fell.
Philadelphia firefighters crawled into the damaged structure and safely rescued the woman and her pets, according to the homeowner’s family. No injuries were reported.
“I’m in awe of that,” Ann Marie, who lives nearby said. “I’ve seen a lot of big trees come down here. Nothing like that.”
Marie said falling trees are a constant concern in the area, particularly during high winds.
“It’s always on my mind because you hear about trees that fall across some of the roads and hit cars or hit houses,” she said. “I never thought that tree would come down.”
In Roxborough, another large tree fell directly onto an SUV, crushing the front end of the vehicle and trapping two people inside. First responders rescued both occupants, who were taken to the hospital with injuries. As of Friday night, their conditions are not known.
“The wind was horrible. It was absolutely horrible,” Helen Simone a neighbor said. “Every single time there’s a bad storm, there are trees down. But as big as this, I’ve never seen it before. It’s quite terrifying.”
Simone said the damage highlights the danger posed by aging trees during storms.
“I don’t trust the trees,” she said. “When there’s wind, it’s really, really dangerous.”
In Washington Township, New Jersey, police said a 100-foot tree fell onto a home on Beech Avenue after the homeowner heard it snap. The resident and their infant were able to safely evacuate without injuries, but the home was left uninhabitable.
Officials say strong winds are the likely cause of the damage in all three incidents.