Westbury homeowner pleads for help after tree crashes through her home, trapping dozens of cats inside
Video from inside the home shows over 20 cats inside cages in a room on the ground floor.
More Stories
A Westbury homeowner is begging for help after a tree crashed down during a quick-hitting storm last night, trapping dozens of her cats inside.
Wendy Kimball, who lives at 5 Oakdale Dr., said she was making dinner last night when a storm with extremely strong winds pulled down a 72-year-old oak tree in her backyard. The tree crashed through the roof and into a room on the upper floor where her brother was.
He suffered only minor injuries, while Kimball said she was unharmed.
Kimball said she immediately contacted multiple animal rescue groups to help save roughly three dozen cats inside the home. She said she fosters medically-fragile cats and helps rehabilitate them.
"They're my life," Kimball said. "They come so much ahead of me and my well-being. I'm devastated because if they don't let me in tomorrow, at least four are going to die."
Animal rescuers Deb Oliver and Kathleen Mott-Leslie said Kimball called them around 10 p.m. Monday.
"We're prepared with all of our carriers and traps and we're ready to go as soon as we get the okay to go back in," Oliver said.
Volunteers were initially able to pull nine cats from the home, but Kimball believes more than 20 still need help.
Video from inside the home shows dozens of cats in a ground-floor room. Debris from the home is blocking the sliding door.
North Hempstead Town spokesperson told News 12: “The Town’s Building Department has inspected the property and determined that the structure is unsafe to occupy. Given the extent of the damage, entering the home before its structural stability has been evaluated could put lives at risk. The Town is awaiting an engineer’s report from the homeowners to determine the condition and stability of the structure and what, if any, access can safely be provided."
