Storm damage continues, tree falls onto roof in Hampstead

HAMPSTEAD, NC (WWAY) — People are still feeling the effects of Thursday night and Friday morning’s severe weather. One family is repairing their roof after a tree fell into it on Friday morning.

“She screamed. The house shook. So I immediately knew what was going on,” homeowner Josh Schieffer said.

A tree had fallen into his home above the bedroom where his wife was getting ready for the day.

The lingering high winds from Thursday’s storm caused the tree to snap Friday morning.

“Around 8:30 in the morning it was still a little breezy and this tree landed right on top of my master bedroom, right above my wife,” Schieffer said.

Josh Schieffer and his family had just moved into their new home.

“You pick the carpet, you pick the flooring, it’s yours,” he said. “It’s your biggest investment and to have a tree fall on it a month into your ownership it’s not all that great.”

He says he asked to have the trees surrounding the home removed during the buying process, but it never happened.

“I’m looking at dead trees now that still have not been taken care of and we’re seeing these trees land on the house,” he said. “So it’s just one of those things you’re constantly trying to fight for them to do something to make your house safe.”

He says he hopes the builders take care of the dead trees soon.

“It doesn’t take an arborist to know that an evergreen should be green,” Schieffer said. “And when your pine tree is dead, it’s going to fall eventually. And when you have storms like we do in North Carolina, they need to be taken care of.”

Schieffer says they are not allowed to have the trees removed themselves because they are not on their property.

WWAY tried reaching out to the developers of the neighborhood to find out if they plan on removing the trees, but their office hours prevented us from reaching anyone.