DAMAGE INVESTIGATIONS: TREE STRIKES

DAMAGE INVESTIGATIONS: TREE STRIKES

Storms rolled in hard and fast Tuesday night, bringing pounding rain and high winds across the East Coast and destroying or damaging numerous homes. At least five deaths have been reported around the country. The power is still out for thousands Wednesday morning. Chester County, PA and central/northern New York were the worst hit with power outages.

Metropolitan is typically being retained to determine the cause and extent of the structural damage due to the tree impact or other wind damage. See Figures 1 and 2. We are also requested to develop a schematic scope of structural repairs.

Figure 1: Tree Strike in New Jersey.

Figure 2. Tree strike. Damage to the second floor bedroom.

The conclusions from a typical tree strike case are summarized below.

1. The primary area of the tree impact caused structural damage to portions of the superstructure in the southwest quadrant of the house including the rear deck, the rear family room, the hot tub room, the laundry, the second floor master bedroom, walk-in closet, master bathroom and bonus room. Isolated damage to other areas of the house from the tree impact included hairline width cracks at a door opening in the kitchen, ceiling cracks in the hall bathroom, ceiling and wall damage in the southwest bedroom and ceiling damage in the northwest bedroom.

2. The tree impact caused structural damage to portions of the foundation of the southern half of the house including the rear deck, the rear family room, and the interior of the hot tub room.

3. The structural damage can be repaired by conventional methods. For details of the damaged areas that require removal and replacement, refer to the Schematic Structural Repair Plans in Section V.

4. The tree impact did not cause racking of the remaining portions of the superstructure of the house.

5. Except for an approximate ¹/₈-inch wide gap in the foundation wall on the east side of the house between the kitchen and the keeping room, the tree impact did not cause any damage to the remaining portions of the foundation of the house.

On other news, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that federal disaster aid has been made available to the State of New York to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area affected by severe storms and flooding during the period of May 13-22, 2014. The President's action makes federal funding available to state and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by severe storms and flooding in Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Delaware, Herkimer, Lewis, Livingston, Ontario, Otsego, Steuben, and Yates counties. Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.

The declaration follows severe storms and flooding in May that caused serious damage to counties in Central and Western New York. The storms began May 12 and dropped from five- to seven-inches of rain in some places is less than three hours. More than 6,500 homes and business were without power, and over 130 families sustained significant property damage. See Figure 3 for flood damage in Yates County, NY.

Figure 3. Mud deposited in Yates County from the May 2014 storms.

METROPOLITAN ENGINEERING, CONSULTING & FORENSICS (MECF)

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