An elderly woman and her tenants in a New Jersey home escaped a close call when a mighty oak tree came crashing down on their house, destroying a kitchen in the back.
The century-old tree nearly came down on the Kearny homeowner, who's turning 94 in two weeks. The tenants living above also escaped injury.
Her daughter and son-in-law raced to the home after getting a frantic call from a neighbor.
"She was in the bathroom, literally two feet from where that branch came in through the house, on the kitchen side," said the homeowner's son-in-law Will McMahon.
The home dates to the late 1800s, according to McMahon, and has been in the family "for a while."
Heavy rain is likely to blame for weakening the soil and sending it crashing into the home. An engineer will determine if the house must be torn down.
"A tree's a tree, we can deal with that. As long as no one's hurt," said the homeowner's daughter, Nan Wagner.
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The family says they had long been concerned about the weight of the tree and trimmed it back several times -- but never imagined this would happen.
