A large tree branch smashed into two historic Brooklyn Heights houses during a heavy rainstorm on Wednesday morning, damaging multiple windows and railings.
The strong winds and heavy rain caused the several-thousand-pound branch to collapse into the windows and wooden railings of the two homes near Willow Street around 10:30 am, according to officials with the Fire Department.
One resident watched the branch come down and devastated his home, but said the situation could have been much worse.
“Thank God nobody was passing by when it fell,” said Alesandro Polcri. “We had some windows smashed, but it looks like the roof is going to be ok.”
Firefighters closed off the scene to cut up the fallen branch with a chainsaw and one official said they expect other trees might also lose limbs.
The city’s Parks Department previously pruned the damaged tree, but apparently didn’t notice the fallen branch was rotting, according to Polcri.
“They came to trim the tree but maybe they didn’t see that it was rotted in that part of the tree,” he said.
Gusts of wind eclipsed 30 miles-per-hour during the rainstorm on Monday, according to a weather mapping site, which forecasts heavy rain thought the rest of the week.
