3 Weeks After Sandy, Man Still Waiting For Tree To Be Removed

A Northeast Philadelphia man is still waiting for a tree that fell onto his home to be removed, three weeks after Hurricane Sandy hit the area.

On the night the storm hit, 82-year-old Carmen Adamo says the 50-foot tree uprooted from its home at the edge of Pennypack Park and crashed down onto his roof.

He says he acted quickly and called the city's 3-1-1 system that same night.

Three weeks later, the tree still remains.

Adamo says his insurance company recently surveyed the damage, but says it's too minor to meet his deductible.

Adamo says he's likely to be out several hundred dollars for repairs.

The city tells FOX 29's Bruce Gordan that it sent tree removal crews to his home twice, but they never notified him, so they arrived when Adamo wasn't home.

Adamo says he moved into his home in 1960 and understands the good and the bad that comes with living next to a park. But this, he says, seems unreasonable.

FOX 29's Bruce Gordan spent much of the day on the phone with city officials, who say Northeast Philly was hit particularly hard by Sandy.

By Monday evening, the press secretary for Mayor Michael Nutter told Gordon that crews will be at Adamo's home Tuesday to give him contact information so that he can make arrangements for the tree to be removed.

The city says a crew will remove the tree, even if Adamo isn't home at the time.