Tree Falls on Woodlawn Ave Home
Decatur Metro | September 18, 2009
Jeffrey sends in this pic of a tree down on a home on Woodlawn Avenue in Ponce Heights, due to the rain-soaked ground.
Luckily no one was home yesterday evening when the tree fell. Terrible thing to come home to though.
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Do people widely refer to that area as Ponce Heights? I know the trend of naming every 3 block sector of the Metro area has been going on for a while, but Decatur seems small enough that it doesn’t need to be subdivided (although I realize Oakhurst has its own name/thing going).
I live in the ‘hood and know it as Ponce Heights. Heard that tree falling–that familiar sound like a head of lettuce being torn apart as the roots emerge–ugh.
Whoa. I think I heard this too from several streets away. Was it around 8:30 PM? I told my daughter it was probably a blown transformer but I wondered since no lights went out. The ground shuddered. No way someone in the direct path of that tree could have made it. Come to think of it, I think I hear work crews right now.
Puts some perspective on things. A few inches of water in a partial-earth basement is nothing compared to this.
It was a little before 8:30. A little after 8:30 we heard what sounded like a blown transformer as we were standing outside.
The tree crushed the upstairs finished area that is a bedroom. It fell right across the bed. Thank God it didn’t fall a few hours later. Had they been at home in bed it would have been very tragic.
Gotta give some credit to the Decatur Fire Department. They were there very quickly.
hey joe blow,
it’s been ponce heights long before you moved here, and will be ponce heights after you leave ….same with “great lakes” and decatur heights .. all are specific neighborhood designations with specific neighborhood alliances, annual picnics, etc. etc
sorry bout the tree, but so glad no one was home … it is a sad price we pay for living in a beautiful, tree-lined neighborhood …
Lots o’ Heights. Don’t forget Clairemont Heights!
I think all the Heights in the name have something to do with the topography. Each of the Heights neighborhoods sits on a spur of the continental divide (railroad). There are three north of the tracks. The western spur which runs into Ponce Heights, a downtown spur (which is the largest of three) that goes up Clairmont, and then an eastern spur which heads up into Decatur Heights.
All this to say…naming a neighborhood based on topography is way too clever for modern day naming standards, which means they got to be old!
I do believe the area around College Heights Early Learning Center is also referred to as College Heights. Though it seems that Oakhurst has unofficially annexed the hood.
The subdivision was named Ponce De Leon Heights whens the houses were built in 1939
For others with big trees around them, this one was leaning toward the house at a pretty severe angle.
Sadly, this was my house and it has been quite a nightmare the last few days with the nonstop rain. Just responding to 4217, we were trying to be conservative with Decatur’s grand old oak trees, so we had an arborist inspect this one only a couple of months ago to determine whether it should be removed. It was deemed to be healthy and, absent the record-breaking rainfall, should have posed no threat. That said, when we moved in 4 years ago, we had one removed that WAS deemed threatening to the house and some passerby had some harsh words for us and our disregard for nature…
We definitely have amazing neighbors helping us with everything. Also, I can’t say enough about our wonderful Decatur Fire Dept and Police Dept. They responded so quickly.
While I’m at it, I want to say that King Tree Experts (a Decatur business) was amazing!!
My utmost sympathies to you & your family– I feel guilty for complaining about our leaking roof now! Incidentally, it never ceases to amaze me at how some of our “tolerant” citizens won’t hesitate to criticize others for removing trees, when they generally haven’t the slightest idea of the reasons behind it. Don’t you listen to them, SW, b/c if there are indications that you & your family could be in danger, personal safety should trump nature. Anyone who says differently is just talking out of his/her bum, and should be ignored. (Sorry, but this kind of thing gets me a bit riled up!)