WELLS, Maine — An 80-foot pine tree snapped and pierced a home in Wells during Thursday's snowstorm.
Jeff Pollard and his wife, Lisa, said the tree came crashing down around 4 a.m. Thursday, with branches impaling two areas in a bedroom where Jeff was sleeping. He said the tree branch drove through the roof, the ceiling, and finally, the wall next to him.
"It was almost a simultaneous crack, and the whole house shook," Pollard said.
He said they lost power and are relying on a generator for electricity.
At 1:30 p.m., Central Maine Power reported 325,078 customers without power, more than 48% of its customers.
"That thing was moving," Pollard said. "The winds were howling."
"I'm glad it wasn't over about three feet and hit me in the head because then that would have been a different story."
He said he immediately leaped out of bed to see the damage to the house and to check for leaks and didn't even notice the branch in his bed at first.
"I must have been full of, like so much adrenaline that I didn't even notice it was here. I checked the attic first, and I came back and my wife goes, 'There is a tree in your bedroom.' And I was like, 'what?'" Pollard said.
He said he called the Wells Fire Department to report the issue and said they gave him a tarp to cover the hole in the roof.
"It was such a mild winter I thought, snow-wise great. And then we get into spring and I'm like, 'What are we getting all these things.' Right? All these storms. Bang, bang, bang, bang. And then the trees, right? They can't handle it. They get stressed out."