BENBROOK, Texas — “If I could go back 30 years, I would not have that tree," said Roger Spencer, laughing.
Spencer has lived with his wife on the 5100 block of North Branch Drive in Benbrook for the last 30 years. Late Friday night, they were jolted awake from a startling crash outside.
“I heard my wife scream, 'Roger the tree is down!'” Spencer said.
The 30-year-old cedar elm was no match for the 60 mph winds that tore through the couple’s front yard.
“It was still blowing pretty hard; I thought I’m not going out there right now. We’ll deal with it tomorrow,” said Spencer.
However, Saturday morning’s rays of light revealed the ugly truth.
“My wife said, 'it’s a lot worse than we thought last night!'” Spencer said.
They decided to call for help.
“We’ve got Bud the tree guy coming back tomorrow and he’s going to tear it down for us and haul it off,” said Spencer.
“Today has been busy, the phone started ringing at 11 o’clock last night,” said Bud Jackson, who works for Trinity Forest Tree Care.
He cleans up the mess left behind by Mother Nature’s wrath.
“I’ve been getting calls of fallen trees, broken limbs, limbs on roofs, neighbor’s trees fell off onto my house, all kinds of calls,” said Jackson
The powerful storms also caused tens of thousands of power outages across North Texas. Meanwhile, Spencer is just thankful that the damage wasn’t worse.
“At least it didn’t hit the house. We’re all fine it’s just going to cost money,” said the long-time Benbrook resident.