A Tree Kurt Jensen Says Stood Over 75 Feet Split His Family’s Kennesaw Rental Home in Half While They Slept, and Asbestos Ruined 99% of What They Owned

A tree came down on a Kennesaw, Georgia rental home during an October storm while Kurt Jensen, his wife and their two children were asleep inside, crashing through the roof and splitting the house in half, as FOX 5 Atlanta put it in its report. Everyone got out. Almost nothing they owned did.

Jensen told WSB-TV the tree was “over 75 feet and over 15 tons,” and that he “just climbed out from underneath the tree.” What it left behind was a wrecked house and a second problem the family did not see coming: asbestos.

A House Split by One Tree

FOX 5 Atlanta reported that the tree split the Cobb County home nearly in half. Jensen told the station he woke up to what he described as “a real-life nightmare.”

The family escaped. WSB-TV reported that everyone made it out of the house, with one person suffering minor injuries. The station reported the story on Nov. 5, more than a week after the storm, as the family was still raising money to relocate.

FOX 5 also reported that there had been previous concerns about the trees around the house. The station did not say who raised those concerns or whether they were ever reported. Neither station said whose property the tree grew on, and the homeowner who owns the rental was not named.

Why the Family Lost 99 Percent of Their Things

The roof damage was only the start. According to FOX 5, the house contained asbestos, and once the tree tore through the structure, the material contaminated the inside of the home.

“Because there was asbestos in the house everything contaminated so 99 of the stuff is lost,” Jensen told FOX 5. Speaking to WSB-TV, he put it more simply: “pretty much 99%” of the family’s things were gone, and they would have to start over. He said decontaminating the family’s belongings would cost more than replacing them.

The Environmental Protection Agency explains why. In its guidance on protecting families from asbestos exposure, the agency says asbestos materials that are not damaged or disturbed “are not likely to pose a health risk,” but damaged material can release fibers, especially when it is handled, rubbed or hit. The EPA says that when material is badly damaged, “repair or removal by a trained and accredited asbestos professional is needed,” and it warns that improper removal can actually increase a family’s exposure to asbestos fibers.

A tree that size coming through a roof is about as disturbed as building material can get.

No Renters Insurance, and a Family Starting Over

The Jensens did not have renters insurance when the tree fell, WSB-TV reported. Jensen said he had been shopping for a cheaper renters policy at the time.

That gap matters because a landlord’s policy usually does not reach a tenant’s things. The New York State Department of Financial Services says in its consumer page on renters insurance that “a landlord does not provide insurance for a tenants personal property,” with one exception: when the landlord knew of a hazard, failed to fix it within a reasonable time, and a tenant’s property was damaged as a result. The department says a renters policy generally pays to replace covered belongings that are stolen, damaged or destroyed, covers living expenses when a rental unit is damaged and the tenant has to live elsewhere during repairs, and includes personal liability coverage.

On the structure side, the picture is different. Progressive, explaining how homeowners policies handle fallen trees, says a homeowners policy may pay for damage to the house, other structures and belongings when a tree falls because of factors outside the owner’s control, but notes that damage from “dead and/or rotting” trees may fall on the owner. In a rental, the house belongs to the landlord, and so does that policy. The tenant’s furniture, clothes and keepsakes are covered only if the tenant bought coverage of their own.

A family friend started a GiveSendGo campaign to help the Jensens with emergency relocation and basic living costs, according to FOX 5. Neither station reported whether the house will be repaired or torn down.

The Kennesaw family is not alone this fall. One family warned a neighbor for years about a dead tree before it wrecked the home they had paid off, and a tree came down through the Parker family’s Lincoln County home on a night with no wind.

Signs a Yard Tree Could Come Down

Trees can show warning signs before they fail. The University of California Statewide IPM Program, in its guide to recognizing hazardous trees, lists the signs homeowners and renters should watch for:

• Brackets, conks, mushrooms or other fungal growths on the bark or around the base of the tree.
• Cankers or wounds in the bark or wood.
• Cavities in the main trunk or at the base.
• Cracks in the trunk or where large limbs fork.
• Dead or dying limbs.
• Fissures opening in the soil near the trunk.
• A trunk that leans or tilts instead of growing straight up.

The program warns that some hazards, such as internal decay, damaged roots or lightning injury, cannot be seen from the outside. Where a tree’s failure could hurt people or damage property, it recommends having “a competent expert” inspect it regularly, such as an arborist certified by the International Society of Arboriculture or registered with the American Society of Consulting Arborists.

For renters, a tree that looks wrong is worth putting in writing to the landlord. For the Jensens, the tree has already done its damage, and the family is now trying to rebuild from almost nothing.

Get stories like this by email. Sign up for The Parent Diaries Letter.

This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: KatieThebeau from Toronto, Canada – CC BY 2.0/Wikimedia Commons