DETROIT – A Detroit homeowner says a branch from a city-owned tree fell on her front porch during a June 18 storm, blocking her only exit for four days. Despite several calls to City Hall and the police department, homeowner Rosemary Mitchell says no one from the city came to remove the branch.
After four days with no response, she paid hundreds of dollars to have workers remove it. “It scared me. It hit the house, and the whole house shook,” Mitchell said, describing the moment she heard the branch fall. “All my porch was just covered with big old trees.”
Mitchell says she had previously called the city about the tree due to falling branches often damaging her parked vehicles. “I got no response,” she said. “Now this is just too much, now it hit my house.”
After paying to remove the branch, Mitchell continued to call the city requesting removal of any dead branches on the tree but hasn’t been given a timeframe for inspection. The incident has caused financial strain for Mitchell, who lives on a fixed income. Her insurance denied coverage for roof damage caused by the branch. “I don’t have money to keep doing this,” Mitchell said. “You want me to pay my taxes for my house and pay my other bills, but you’re putting me in a hole.”
General Services Department Director Crystal Perkins acknowledged receiving one call about the tree after the branch was removed. Still, they classified it as lower priority during a period of high storm damage reports, given that Mitchell had already paid to have most of the tree removed from her porch area.
Perkins said in a statement to Local 4: “Our records show that the Forestry Division did receive a call on 6/26 regarding a tree over this home, and a survey was requested. From the initial information we received, and now the photos confirm, that this was a lower priority for us when we were dealing with a large influx of fallen trees after the recent storms. We expect we will be able to be out later this week to inspect the tree that lost these limbs to determine if it is healthy and can stay or needs to be removed.”