Community Corner

Your Photos: Vienna After The Storm

Send us pictures of the damage near your home

Update noon: Rick Panizza didn't have to go out to survey the damage from Hurricane Irene – it came crashing right to him.

Panizza woke between 1 and 2 a.m. to ceiling plaster falling onto him, scattering around the bed. He stumbled for his glasses and flashlight, clicking it on to see the giant oak tree that had once been in his back yard was now squarely in his roof. It landed about four feet from where he was sleeping.

"That tree would have killed me," he said.

Find out what's happening in Viennawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

After a minute he knew exactly which tree it was. He had looked into taking the sprawling tree for the past two years,but was often told getting a crane in the backyard wasn't possible.

On Sunday, neighbors gathered to watch a large crane lift the tree piece by piece over the gaping hole left in Panizza's roof. One half of his house has power, he says. He'll live there while he waits for insurance adjusters to come visit the house.

Find out what's happening in Viennawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Belongings can be replaced. A house is just a house ... You can replace it. I can't replace me," he said.

Update 11:57 a.m.: Streets were busy late Sunday morning as residents walked with their dogs or children around their neighborhoods, surveying the hurricane's damage.

Debris –small branches and stray limbs – littered many of the side roads around Vienna, notably the roads off of Cottage Street, Church Street and Ayr Hill road.

A tree fell across McNeil Street, blocking it to traffic. A large tree fell across a car in the parking lot of the apartment complex next to Madison High School.

Plum Street remained closed, wires hanging in the middle of the road, and near the intersection with Battle Street the top of a telephone pole had snapped, dangling from the midpoint. No crews were in sight; it's unclear when the road will be open.

Original 10:08 a.m. Vienna escaped major damage as Hurricane Irene passed through the area, but several reports of power outages, downed trees and falling wires began to roll in Sunday morning.

We're collecting photos of the damage, on foot and also with readers who take pictures of their own backyard.

The worst photo we've seen so far – a tree that went through a house on Ross Drive, coming about four feet from the owner's bed.

Send us your photos at erica.hendry at patch.com

Patch will update this with photos throughout the day.


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