HOUSTON – A massive tree branch pierced right through the roof of a southeast side home in the Glenbrook neighborhood, causing massive damage.
The homeowners say the city knew the tree was rotting for nearly a year, but did nothing about it.
Just getting by has been hard enough for Mario Mendoza and his family
“I don’t have money because I’m disabled,” said Mario Mendoza Sr. “I receive $1,000 a month.”
Tuesday, he said life got even harder when he and his family were awakened by a true nightmare. Part of a rotting tree near the sidewalk, owned by the city, came crashing through the roof of their southeast side home.
“I was just getting ready in my room when we just bolstered, and we ran into here. And by the time we got here we basically just saw a tree through our roof,” said Mario Jr.
Mario Jr. says the tree had been falling apart for more than a year, the problem began causing major worry last May.
“That tree dropped a pretty big branch, luckily it didn’t break anything that time,” he said.
He says they still called the city.
“They told us like no, we don’t do that. You gotta call like a tree person to come cut it down. But of course we don’t have that kind of money,” Mario Jr. said.
After pressing the city, they thought they had gotten somewhere.
“They gave us this notice, they’re like yeah we’ll cut it down in 120 days,” he said.
That never happened and things got worse.
“In September, another big branch fell. That one did break our fence. Completely tore it down,” he said.
The Mendozas say the city told them to file a claim and asked for three quotes, which the family provided.
“Most of them were around the five-thousand price range, and then they’re like ok you have to send us pictures,” Mario Jr. said. “And so, we even took pictures that the tree is clearly rotting from the inside and they basically sent us this claim number and this phone number to call, and we did, and they basically told us we’re not responsible.”
Tuesday’s incident, their scariest yet because Mario Jr’s mother usually sits where the tree came in.
“My mom takes care of my niece and nephew so. My sister, she’s a teacher and so she comes and drops off the kids pretty early but luckily this time she was running a little bit late.
As far as the damage, the family says they don’t have the $5,000 for their insurance deductible. The city asked them to file another claim, but based on what’s already happened, they have no faith anything will come of it.
“It’s as worse of a situation as you can get,” Mario Jr. said.
We called the Mayor’s office and were told to call the Parks Department but we got no answer.
The Mendozas have no idea how much repairs will cost yet because they’re still waiting estimates. They will be able to stay with family until repairs are made, but aren’t sure when they’ll be able to live in the broken house they once called a home, again.