A big tree fell and ripped much of the family’s 42-foot fifth wheel in Lake Roesiger. Another destroyed one of their cars.
Photo courtesy Katie Holt
SNOHOMISH — Nobody was inside when the trees crashed, but now a young Lake Roesiger-area family is left seeking a new home.
An evergreen tree destroyed Katie Holt and Derick Buterbaugh’s home after it fell during last week’s windstorm.
They were blessed to have headed away from the trailer to go borrow a chainsaw from his dad’s place when the evergreen fell.
Their son, 3, would have been right where the tree hit at the front of the trailer, Holt said. They’re staying with family as the trailer is destroyed. Their children, 3 and 6, were shaken up. Tears on the roof allowed rainwater to flood their possessions.
“In the grand scheme of it all,” they count themselves lucky “because if we were inside (the trailer), I don’t know what would happen,” Holt said.
The Lake Roesiger, Machias and Three Lakes areas took a brunt of damage in the windstorm. Some homes still didn’t have power as of Sunday. The areas are susceptible to tree damage, but last week’s storm was “100 times more compared to what we normally see,” Holt said.
Lake Roesiger neighbors have stepped up in many ways, from the obvious cleanup work of clearing roads and cutting trees, to cooking food to keep the crews and helpers fed. The Lake Roesiger Store shone as the community hub.
Neighbors have stepped up. Some hired Buterbaugh to do tree cleanup jobs. His employer J & L Enterprise, in the construction business, let him borrow one of their excavators to help remove things.
The couple are Snohomish High grads: Holt was 2016; Buterbaugh, 2017.
Another fallen tree totaled the SUV they’d recently purchased, smashing its roof and collapsing the front A-pillar.
Holt described their 2017, 42-foot fifth-wheel trailer as having two bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom.
They did not have insurance on it, and Holt said they still owe $14,000 on it. (The SUV is insured.)
Holt set out a GoFundMe online fundraiser page to seek help. As of Sunday, Nov. 24 it had raised $8,000.
A check on a local RV dealer’s website saw similar-spec fifth wheels this size and vintage listed in the $50,000 to $60,000 range.
They were shopping for a permanent home at the time. The calamity was a setback from a few angles. The plan was to get a mortgage, then sell the trailer and plunge those funds into the mortgage principal.
The GoFundMe page is called “Donate to Katie’s Family for a New Home.”
Another family that attends Machias Elementary had a tree fall into their living room while they were home, Holt said she heard.
