AFFTON, Mo. — "I was kind of saddened by this, because this tree has a little bit of sentimental value to me," Edward Feldmann said as he looked over the giant sycamore. "I planted this tree, Arbor Day in 4th grade."
Caught up in powerful wind gusts, the beautiful sycamore toppled down.
"I watched it grow its whole life and it's so big you can't even put your arms around it," Feldmann says, "Now it's down and we have to cut it up, it's kind of sad."
The roughly 50-year-old tree did spare the houses around it when it came down. The tree fell across Feldmann and the neighbor's yard, over a metal fence. The fence posed a problem. When the tree fell, it took down a powerline which landed on the metal fence.
"The neighbor was having to go back there to get their dog or something and touched the fence and got shocked," Fedlmann said.
The metal fence was energized by the fallen line. Feldmann said Ameren was on the scene quickly. "Ameren crews came by and said there was 87 volts on it. I don't know how they measured it, but definitely told us to stay away from it."
It's a good reminder during and after storms to touch nothing around downed trees.
Feldmann asked 5 On Your Side to share his information. He's looking for any help he can get to chop up the tree and get it out of the yards. His number is 636-222-7265.
A few houses down from Feldmann, the top of a tree broke off and speared a roof. A block over, a tree fell and now teeters on a strong rooftop. Tree expert and owner of B & M Tree Service Matt Farris explained what he suspects happened: "That was probably a blow over and then the house, the structure was holding the root ball up and everything, like a teeter totter."
It was a first for our photographer-reporter crew, but not for Farris.
"It's very dangerous to work," he said. "You have to come out with a crane to remove it, because all the weight is right there, you know."
Farris' business has been busy with July's strong storms. "We're still working on storm damage from two weeks ago," he said.
He looks out over another tree in Affton, this time uprooted from the front yard.
"That there is busted off," Farris pointed out. "It's an older tree, you can tell. It just caught the wind the wrong way and got on the house."