DUNWOODY, Ga. — Gary Lips would have liked to run some errands.
“Got to get rid of this so we can get out of the driveway,” Gary told Channel 2′s Berndt Petersen.
The old oak tree that was planted long before he moved into his Dunwoody neighborhood along Northchester Court forced him to stay put.
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“I was there watching it. It was touching power lines. The power lines were sparking. We had flames and smoke,” Lips said.
He snapped a few cellphone photos of the fire early Wednesday night. The rain that started the day before and the day before that finally took its toll.
The oak came down and brought power lines with it, which fell into the street and blocked it for hours.
Across town, Old Spring House Lane was also closed for a time. Not much was left of a power pole at the corner.
In Sandy Springs a toppled tree blocked Roswell Road.
Some students who attend North Springs High School and some local business owners had to get to their destinations on foot.
“Just trying to get to where we have to get to. When it rains it pours. But that was exercise,” business owner Damont Giddins said.
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Back on Northchester Court in Dunwoody, Lips showed Petersen a root ball covered in a burlap bag.
That’s what the oak came in when it was planted way back in the day.
Gary is just glad it fell away from his home and not on top of it.
“I’m watching and my kids are coming outside. I said, no! Stay over there. Stay away from the tree. Then the tree comes barreling down,” Lips said.
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