VIDEO: Tree Crashes Through Jacobson/Blatt's Roof in North Branford

Leslie Blatt was up early on Aug. 28–the day that Irene was coming to town. She was standing in the back room of her house on Bailey Drive watching the trees in her neighbor's yard. 

The next thing she knew, there was a loud crack and a rumble as a large tree on the back of her property crashed into her house. Blatt ran to the basement in the dark–they had already lost power–and then went to a neighbor's to call the authorities and her husband, Donald Jacobson.

Jacobson received the call at 6:30 a.m. but was unable to return home from work until about two hours later. Though his wife described the damage, including a limb piercing their ceiling and hitting their refrigerator, he thought "she's got to be mistaken."

When he pulled up, he was in disbelief. A tree literally covered their home from front to back, blocking the front door and large picture window. A branch was, in fact, resting on the top of their refrigerator. And, in the back room where Blatt was standing, two ceiling beams were pushed down below ceiling height and cracked. Water was pouring in through the cracks in the roof. 

After the storm let up, it was time to get to work. Blatt was watching from the driveway as her husband starting removing the tree branch by branch with a chainsaw.

Blatt said removing the tree was their next step and then tarping off the house so it wouldn't leak before their insurance company could come assess the damage. 

Despite the heavy damage to their home, both Blatt and Jacobson were in good spirits. 

"I'm just glad nobody got hurt," Jacobson said, standing back and taking in the scene. 

Check out the photo gallery and video for an up-close look at the damage.