Following a strong spate of storms Wednesday and Thursday, Athens utility workers remove a fallen tree on W. Bryan Street in Athens May 9.

Violent winds caused by severe weather late Wednesday evening sent a large tree toppling atop a nearby house located on W. Bryan St. The incident was one repeated throughout the storm cycle that lasted into Thursday.

The homeowner was not available for comment, but her next-door neighbor was on hand, looking on as Athens utility workers removed the tree Thursday morning.

“I actually did not even hear the tree go down, believe it or not,” Tom Schuman said. “I didn’t know until my neighbor that lives behind me called and said, ‘Look outside,’ and I was like, ‘woah!’”

According to Schuman, and his wife, Ann Schuman, the tree’s branches caused a majority of the damage as they punctured the top of their next-door neighbors roof. The couple noted that some of the branches even broke into their neighbor’s upstairs bathroom.

“They’ve really got some major damage and they probably won’t realize the total damage until they get it all cleaned off,” Tom Schuman said. “I knew it was pretty serious when the hail started coming, the winds picked up, and then we had five sirens go off too. We were fortunate though, because this could have been a lot worse.”