ESTACADA, Ore. -- Thursday was a hectic day for Randy Evans and his family, who live in Estacada.
He, his wife and two little boys were just getting ready for the day when he said his wife heard a popping noise just before 9 a.m.
“She said what’s that noise?” Evans recalled.
He said when he looked out his bedroom window, he saw a huge tree falling toward him.
“I don’t know what else there is to go through your head except, that's a tree coming at me,” Evans said.
When it hit, he said it sounded like a boom. In a flash, he knew his first order of business.
“Get the wife and kids out of the house and somewhere safe just in case,” said Evans.
Photos: Tree falls on Estacada home
Then came the neighbors. He said a number of people walked over to see what had caused the boom.
“It’s a pretty small community here. Lots of people coming by from two, three, four streets over,” Evans said.
Sean North and his family live just behind the Evans' home near Northeast Main Street and 1st Avenue. North and his wife heard the crack and came out just in time to see everything unfold. They say what scared them most, was that their grandchild, four-year-old Matthew was outside playing.
“We were of course afraid it was coming this way, and when we stepped out we could see the tree pivot this way. And the wind just caught the upper limbs on it and kind of twisted it this way and dropped it right onto their house,” said North.
He said a couple of the tree's branches fell during a previous storm and caused some damage. Since then, he and his family have been watching it.
“We're glad nobody got hurt,” North said.
Evans’ father-in-law said the family already had plans in the works to remove the tree this summer. But then the wind and rain hit.
At around noon, crews showed up to help get the tree off the house.
Lester Shafer with Alder Creek Tree Service said the family inside the home is lucky no one was hurt, especially considering the size of the tree.
“It's real fortunate. That's really light on the damage it did,” said Shafer.
“Everyone is OK and that's all that really matters,” said Evans.
He, his neighbors, and the crew that came to help clean up the mess said the incident is a good reminder to keep a close eye on trees around people’s homes that could come down with blustery weather.