Storms target one Indianapolis neighborhood

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Most of the damage in Indianapolis from Tuesday night’s storm could be seen in one neighborhood – the Royal Pines subdivision located near Allisonville Road at 79th Street and Dean Road.

“We've had power lines go down before, but it’s only been maybe one or two trees. It’s never been this massive,” says Heidi Gessner, a homeowner who has roof and chimney damage.

It was a long night for homeowners in Royal Pines who woke up to the sounds of pine trees snapping.

“You start hearing this cracking of these trees. You can see they are twisted and you just hear these huge thuds of the pieces of the trees falling to the ground in succession,” says Laura Rector, who had 12 trees fall in her yard.

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Once daylight broke, Laura Rector was able to grasp what the storm left behind.

“When you have wind high winds they sway and they break in the middle. Or in this case with the roots exposed, these big trees only have very small root bases. If you get a lot of water and a lot of wind they just pull up and topple right over,” says Rector.

Last time a storm caused extensive damage it cost Laura Rector thousands of dollars. This time Laura says the damage to her bank account will be much worse.

Homeowners insurance covers trees that land on the house, but it does not cover trees that land on the property.

“You just deal with the cost of something like this. The last one cost about $5,000 and that was nine trees total. This will be 12 trees,” explains Rector.

Neighbors are sure it was caused by a twister. The National Weather Service says they're still ruling it straight line winds.