JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 100-year-old oak tree is now a casualty of what was Tropical Storm Beryl.
“Really big tree, big tree,” said Arlington homeowner, Robin Mercer. “There’s no shade now. It was a great shade tree."
The skyline gap on this tree-lined street is the least of Mercer's worries. The century-old oak tree towered in this Arlington neighborhood before Beryl brought it down Sunday.
"I heard the thump and the neighbors heard the crack and the pop."
Winds reaching 70 mph carried enough power to knock the old oak over.
Mercer's son, Avery, was at home when the giant came down. The family says they are thankful it fell into the street and spared their home.
“Oh gosh, it would be totaled,” said Mercer. “I don't know if we could have repaired it. It’d crush everything… such a monster tree.”
It may be hard to believe but the tree was a selling point when the family moved here in the 1990's. Crews cleared it from the street Monday and left Mercer with the mess.
“They cut it all up, cleared the right-a-way, piled it all up in my yard and said "your tree, your yard.”
