PHOENIX – A wicked winter storm brought high winds that knocked out power to a quarter million homes Monday. That had not only power crews working overtime, but cranes and tree removal crews as well. When they hit a Phoenix neighborhood off Bethany Home Road, they had their hands full.
The rain came pelting down Monday night, flooding streets, downing power lines and trees, and causing widespread power outages and destruction.
“Jokingly, before we went to bed we said, ‘You know, that tree is going to fall down and of course it's going to fall down on us,’” resident Brian Slutsky recalled. “Then we said, 'No no no, it’s 60 feet tall, it's gotta have roots 40 feet deep -- there’s no way.'”
But this storm found a way.
“It literally fell right on top of our bed where we were sleeping," Slutsky said. " Came back in the house and the water was already starting to come in through the house, and just leaking right in the middle of our bed.”
Outside, where the tree once stood, their neighbor made a different discovery.
“The back of it sticks out past the tree but it's just totally smashed like a pancake," Travis Stiegler said, pointing to his car in the driveway. "And there' s another car under there!"
Travis Stiegler's minivan and Dodge were destroyed.
“Unbelievable," Stiegler said. "This was the tallest tree in the 10 mile-square area.”
Although he'll be in the market for some new cars, he's thankful the tree didn't fall against the house where his three children sleep.
“My family is safe and that's all I really care about," Stiegler said.
