ATLANTA — A homeowner says a massive tree owned by the city of Atlanta that fell on his house is blocking his front door, making it hard to get inside.
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He says the city said it was going to send someone to remove it, but so far that hasn’t happened.
“Sounded like a bomb,” homeowner Marshall Mobley told Channel 2’s Tom Jones on Channel 2 Action News at 5 p.m. Mobley says he was about seven minutes from home when he heard lightning that sounded like a bomb.
He says his wife was home and heard it, too.
“She said she thought it was a bomb and she saw the lightning when it hit the tree,” he says.
Mobley says a bolt of lightning hit a massive tree and knocked it down on his home Thursday. It damaged his roof. He says it also damaged his daughter’s car. You could barely see it because it was covered by branches.
“And I can tell from the top of the back there, that’s the roof. It’s bent in,” he says.
Mobley says the tree is blocking his front door so much that he has to use this chair to get in.
“On the chair, over that, to go in my front door,” he says.
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Mobley says the tree belongs to the city. He says the city has questioned whether it owns the tree.
However, a sign indicates that the property where the tree stands is owned and maintained by the city.
Mobley says he finally got someone with the city to admit it owns the tree.
“When I called them, they said they were going to send somebody out here. Nobody ever showed up,” he says.
Mobley wants the tree removed as soon as possible. He also wants the other trees still standing on city property that could fall to be cut down.
“Like, I’ve been after the city for two years to get these trees down.”
A spokesperson for the city says it is looking into this.
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