‘It’s not been the best day’: Two trees down in two storms for Franklin Park homeowner

North Spokane resident Audra Shope had her hands full Wednesday morning.

While juggling work tasks from her home office Wednesday, and time spent with her 14-year-old chihuahua, Pudge, she was keeping an eye on a large ponderosa pine rooted near her back porch.

“The wind was going like crazy, and I’m looking at these neighborhood trees and thinking ‘Oh, please don’t come down,’” Shope said.

Then a loud snap echoed from the backyard, just a sliding screen away from her home office in her ranch-style home just North of Franklin Park. Shope went out to investigate.

“All of a sudden I hear these loud sounds, and it’s coming down even more,” Shope said. “I’m like, OK, leaving the backyard now. I came running in the house, and then it just kept going to where now it’s covering pretty much my whole house.”

The huge pine was uprooted, and came to rest on Shope’s roof, which she said was replaced just a few years ago. It managed to miss nearby powerlines and did not crash all the way through the roof, but it caused noticeable damage and took out large sections of a white panel fence she recently installed. A huge hole was left in the soil where the tree once stood.

“It’s not been the best day, I must say,” Shope said.

While it will likely be a pain to deal with the tree cleanup, she expects her home insurance to cover the damages and any needed repairs. Spokane Fire responded to her call about the downed tree earlier in the day and advised that Avista would be in touch to assist with the removal of the tree.

It’s the second time a large backyard pine has been blown over by intense winds since Shope moved in 13 years ago. Another tree fell during a different storm, clipping a neighbor’s garage . She said she was grateful no one was hurt.

“It definitely could have been worse than it was,” Shope said. “Luckily, it wasn’t.”