A powerful storm sent a massive tree crashing into a Long Island house Monday night, leaving the home badly damaged and nearly three dozen cats trapped inside, officials and local reports said.
The roughly 70-year-old tree came down on the Oakdale Drive residence in Westbury at about 9 p.m., tearing into the house and narrowly striking homeowner Wendy Kimball’s brother as he slept, according to WABC. Her brother, who is battling cancer and recovering from a stroke, was in bed when the tree “grazed” him, the station reported.
“I missed the tree by this much, and my brother was actually grazed by it in bed,” Kimball told the outlet. “He was taking a nap. My brother is a stroke patient and a cancer patient.”
Kimball and her family were able to get out of the wrecked home, and her brother escaped with only minor injuries. But 37 cats remained stuck somewhere inside the unstable structure.
Still shaken by the collapse, Kimball began reaching out to animal rescue organizations for help recovering the cats, which she fosters as part of her rehabilitation efforts, News12 reported.
Animal rescuer John Debacker, one of those assisting in the search, shared photos and videos from the damaged property as he carefully moved through debris looking for surviving felines.
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Town of North Hempstead spokesperson Umberto Mignardi said in a statement that inspectors have deemed the heavily damaged Westbury home “unsafe to occupy,” warning that going inside could “put lives at risk.”
“The Town is awaiting an engineer’s report from the homeowners to determine the condition and stability of the structure and what, if any, access can safely be provided,” Mignardi said, according to Patch.
Rescuers Deb Oliver and Kathleen Mott-Leslie arrived on the scene on Monday night and are prepared with carriers and traps as soon as they get the green light to reenter the home, they told News12.
Roughly two dozen of the cats were still in the house after it was deemed unsafe to enter, Debacker said in an update early Tuesday.
Kimball said that she is most worried about her precious felines, especially Yogi and Baby Hope. She even considered removing the old, ill-fated tree but couldn’t bring herself to do so because of its sentimental value.
“The tree that came down was planted by my father, and my mother was a genealogist, and that’s a ‘family tree,’” Kimball told WABC
“Anybody who’s an animal lover would understand that they’re my children, and they’re the reason I get up every day,” she said.
“It’s not our time. And if God wants me to learn a lesson, I’ve learned it. I’m cutting down every other tree.”
