Family looks for new home after tree crashes through trailer

SWANTON TWP., Ohio (WTVG) - A frightening scene for a Lucas County family. A tree crashed into their home, right over a bedroom for one of their children.

Now, that family is trying to find a permanent place to live for a problem they say should have been addressed a long time ago

It was a wild way to wake up Monday morning with a tree falling through the trailer in Swanton Township. It was easy to see the damage left behind by the falling tree, but the sound might have been just as frightening.

“Got woke up from a dead sleep with a loud thud. I sat up real quick in the bed and said that sounded like a tree that fell,” said Clifford Clingenpeel, who lives in the damaged trailer.

A trip outside confirmed the tree was going right through the corner of the home, over a teenage child’s bedroom.

“It was scary. I could have lost him,” said Kari Badenhop, who also lived in the damaged trailer.

Badenhop and her family live at the Arrowhead Lake Mobile Home Park just next to the Ohio Turnpike in Swanton Township.

Badenhop owns the trailer. Park management owns the land and is responsible for the grounds and the trees. Which includes the one now in her home.

“It’s their property that damaged mine,” said Badenhop.

“They’re totally responsible for what happened here because they were warned about the trees, as well as many other residents who have warned them about the tree problems,” said Gregory Gunn, who lives in Arrowhead Lake.

Fellow neighbors are stepping up to help and want to make sure management does too. Park ownership has put the family in another unit for at least 60 days until the damage to their place is assessed.

Badenhop is not sure if she’ll be bought out or if it’ll be repaired. For now, she has a place to go and everyone involved is hopeful the rest of the story is a smooth one.

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