Wind from the south (rare for us) caused a live 80' White Pine on the edge of our property to fall on our neighbor's home. Apparently punched holes in their roof from the branches since only the top 20' of the tree hit the roof. I offered to clean the bulk of the branches off the home during the storm so I could tarp it, but they refused. Even when I explained that I'm a retired building contractor with 50+ years, including emergency storm damage experience for Servpro, they said no. I think in our litigious society they were afraid of liability for my safety. I would have done the work for free out of a sense of responsibility (not legal responsibility- there's no liability on my end unless I had allowed a dead tree to stand which would constitute negligence). I would even make the repairs for free since that work is right in my wheelhouse, but they prefer to let their homeowner's policy take over. All they would let me do is provide buckets of water so they can flush their toilets once they have power since they shut off the main for fear of a fire if wiring was damaged. It always surprises me that people don't prepare for power outages with water for drinking and flushing, a generator for essential items, etc.
I'm an Eagle scout and the Boy Scout motto is: "Be prepared". Wise words for all of us who venture out into the woods & waters!
