Tree Falls on House in Cranston

If you have a tall tree close to your house, this story might make you sleep a little less easy the next time heavy rain and strong wind gusts come to town.

West Warwick firefighters responded to a Carriage Road house in Cranston Tuesday morning after a large tree fell onto a vacant house, taking out some power lines along with it.

The building inspector and National Grid were notified.

The house, located at 27 Carriage Road, is currently off the real estate market, though it had been listed recently. The three-bedroom, two bathroom house has about 1,000 square feet of living space and was built in 1977, according to city records.

It’s not uncommon for tall trees to topple over in the spring, especially after periods of heavy rain. The saturated ground, combined with the phenomenon known as “windthrow” can cause the tree to become a lever in the wind, uprooting it.

You can learn more than you ever imagined you could ever know at this detailed post by Scientific American about why trees fall over in storms.

Photo: Everett Trainer (Twitter: @EverettTrainer)