James Rogers and his wife were in bed about 8 a.m. last Saturday when a really loud noise awoke them.
“At first I just thought it was a tree falling,” said Rogers, who lives on Bringle Road, “but my wife said we needed to look.”
So the couple got out of bed, looked into the next room and couldn’t believe what they saw: the top of a tree had come through the ceiling.
Rogers called the Covington Fire Department, Southwest Electric and Farm Bureau Insurance and began to assess the damage.
A tree about 30 feet tall that was located in the woods behind their house had landed on the roof. From the street you could barely even see the house.
Rogers and his wife ended up spending Saturday night at Rogers’ son’s house. When they came back Sunday a second tree had landed on the house.
“The second tree was just kind of dangling there Saturday morning,” Rogers said. “I guess it fell sometime Saturday night.”
Rogers is not sure what’s going to happen next. The house looks like it may need to be bulldozed, but that will be determined by the insurance company in the coming days.
Despite possibly losing his home, Rogers is feeling good about things because the amount of support he has received from the community. He said employees of Southwest and Farm Bureau, plus Covington firefighters, have gone to great lengths to help him get through the ordeal.
Richard Simmerman, an electrician who lives a few houses down Bringle Road, and other neighbors have stopped by to offer help.
“I’ve been really impressed,” Rogers said, getting a little choked up with emotion. “I’ve never seen neighbors helping somebody like this. Everybody has just been unbelievable.”
