Monsoon damage: Tree branch crashes through Phoenix home's roof during storm

PHOENIX - Scott Kern says he heard what sounded like a plane crash in his home on the night of Aug. 20.

When he came out to his living room, he saw the branches of the tree in his front yard sticking through his roof.

"The largest branch on the tree just decided with a little wind aid to crash through the roof. And this is what we found when we came out to the living," Kern said.

The backstory:

Officials with the National Weather Service in Phoenix say a cluster of severe thunderstorms produced a group of damaging, widespread winds throughout the Phoenix metro area, with a dust storm beforehand. Meteorologists recorded wind gusts of 55 to 65 miles per hour.

"So it's more small-scale with those really strong winds," said Sean Benedict, a representative with the National Weather Service in Phoenix. "Everywhere else still gets the gusty winds, but as far as this magnitude of winds, the other storms this year have been more localized with those winds, whereas this one was a lot more widespread."

Local perspective:

Kern was still reeling from the damage the storms left behind.

"The microburst that happened was violent. It really was scary," Kern said.

Kern says winds snapped his largest tree branch around 10:00 p.m., sending it through his roof and narrowly missing the TV mounted to the wall.

"All of a sudden we heard 'kaboom,' like an airplane crashed into the house," Kern said. "Then my wife had come out and said, oh no! And pointed up at the tree that had come through our ceiling inside."

After attempting to plug and cover the hole as best he could, Kern worked to manage the incoming weather.

"I had that duct tape up there pretty good. And then this morning I saw that the rain had actually come through," Kern said.

Kern and his wife headed to a hotel, in shock, but grateful they were okay.

"We can fix this house. This is repair work. We just feel really fortunate that nobody was injured," Kern said.

The cleanup began on Aug. 20.

"Roof has to be repaired, attic’s going to need to be restored and you know, I gotta get my tv back on the wall you know, the Diamondbacks play tonight, right?" Kern said.

What's next:

Kern his wife’s main focus currently is getting the tree out of the roof, but they are also waiting on insurance to tell them whether it is safe to stay at the home or if they will have to go back to the hotel.

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