Family escapes after tree crashes through roof

An Oakwood resident awoken by hail overnight sat up in bed, only for a tree to come crashing through his roof and land where he’d been sleeping.

“I leaned up and heard crashing and crackling. I turned behind me and there was a big giant tree branch coming through the roof,” said Carl Gural, who lives in the 430 block of Peach Orchard Avenue in Oakwood. “It was about a foot from where my head would have been if I was still laying down.”

Gural’s 3-month-old baby was about four feet from where he was sleeping.

“It all happened so quickly and it was one of the most frightening things I’ve ever been through,” he said.

Everyone in the house, including Gural’s fiance and twins, were unharmed.

He is unsure how much it will cost to repair damage. The home’s front windows are shattered and there’s a “giant” hole in the roof, he said.

Gural said he called the city two months ago about the trees, and he was told they were on the list of trees to be cut down.

Elsewhere in the Miami Valley, the second round of storms that pounded the region Monday night triggered reports of a water rescue and property damage, according to callers and weather spotters with the National Weather Service in Wilmington.

Here are some of those reports, which began rolling in late Monday and continued well into the overnight

Darke County

The Darke County Sheriff’s Office said they were “hit hard” and several roads throughout the county were closed as of 6:15 a.m. due to high water. Drivers are reminded to not drive on flooded roadways.

Shortly after midnight, there were reports of high water at a trailer park in Ansonia. Vehicles couldn’t enter or exit the facility, according to reports from the public. There are also reports of high water on U.S. 127 and Greenville St. Marys Road.

The Darke County Emergency Management Agency is asking residents of the county to report damage sustained from storms Monday night and Tuesday morning.

Tim and Lisa Skelly reported that a lightning strike and high winds broke off a large limb that brushed their home in the 900 block of Ohio 502, but was a direct hit on their pickup truck. Moderate damage was done to the house, they said.

Residents are asked to report any structural damage from downed trees or limbs as well as flooding to the first floor living area of a home or business, the agency said in a release. The agency adds flooded basements are not accepted by FIMA as living areas.

Anyone with damage is asked to call 937-316-8902 and leave your name, address, phone number and brief description of damages.

Montgomery County

Around 2 a.m., callers into the newsroom reported large trees in the roadway at San Rae Drive and Broad Boulevard in Kettering.

Around 11:30 p.m. Monday, wires were reported down on Lakeview Drive.

Miami County

In Potsdam in Miami County, water estimated to be about a foot deep is covering West Cross Street around 12:35 a.m., Jason Sharp reported to WHIO-TV.