Tropical Storm Elsa drops tree on Cumberland woman's new home

By Gilbert Baez, WRAL Fayetteville reporter

Hope Mills, N.C. — Tropical Storm Elsa came to North Carolina one day after Emmogene Berry-Perez did, and Berry-Perez doesn’t appreciate the welcome her fellow new arrival gave her.

Berry-Perez moved to Hope Mills from New York on Wednesday. After spending her first night in the rented duplex on Middle Street, she went out to grab some coffee Thursday morning only to return to find a large branch on the house.

“When I pulled up in the yard, the fire truck pulled right behind me, and I thought the house is on fire,” she said.

Firefighters told her the branch knocked down the power line to the duplex.

The tropical storm knocked the branch onto the back of the house, smashing part of the back porch and resting on the roof above the bathroom. While it damaged the home’s roof, the branch didn’t come through the bathroom ceiling.

“There’s not too much damage inside. It’s basically outside,” Berry-Perez said. “The ceiling in the bathroom kind of caved in a little bit.”

After one day in the home, she said she’s unsure when she’ll be able to spend a second day there.

“Duke [Energy] came and cut the power and said it’s going to have to be out for a while,” she said. “I don’t know exactly what’s going on.”

Homeowner Tim Dudley said the branch split from a tree on an adjoining property.

“We definitely have to get her a house because we don’t have electricity. So, without any electricity, we can’t have her staying in here,” Dudley said. “I know the insurance thing is going to be difficult because it’s a neighbor’s tree that fell on my property, but I‘m going to contact my insurance and try to make sure I get Miss Perez a house as fast as I can.”

In the meantime, the Red Cross has provided Berry-Perez a voucher for her to stay at a hotel.