Severe storms leave 400-year-old tree damaged
Tuesday, Aug. 2 by Laura Peters
http://www.loudountimes.com/index.php/news/article/severe_storms_leave_400-year-old_tree_damaged/
Thunder, lightning, hail and strong winds swept through Leesburg and much of Loudoun County Aug. 1, welcoming the new month with a bang. The storms left a path of destruction, especially at one Leesburg home, destroying a 400-year-old tulip poplar at the Rokeby House in southeast Leesburg.
Edward and Chris Brennan, who own the Rokeby House, said about 4 p.m. Aug. 1 they heard a huge crack in their front yard. The Rokeby House is a historic home outside of Leesburg that once held the Declaration of Independence and Constitution during the War of 1812 allowing Leesburg to serve as the nation’s capital for a brief period of time.
“I heard this big crack and I thought, ‘Oh God, don’t let it be that 400-year-old tree,’” Chris Brennan said.
The Brennans, who purchased the property in 1993, said that back about 1995 their property was hit by a tornado that took out a lot of old trees.
“I was just sick when I came out - given the historical significance of the property,” Chris Brennan said.
Chris says her and her family are in major clean-up mode, and they aren’t quite sure if they can save the tree or what even caused it to crack in half -either old age, wind, lightning or a combination.
“We’re thinking it was the wind and the age,” Chris Brennan said. “But these trees - the tulip poplar - they hold a lot of water so they have a big risk for lightning, that’s why we have lightning rods in them.”
The tree was a highlight of the Brennans’ yard, as they had it adorned with lights to make it glow at night.
According to the Brennan family, this tulip poplar located on their historic Rokeby House property is said to be almost 400 years old. It was destroyed Aug. 1 during a severe thunderstorm that went through Loudoun County about 4 p.m. Times-Mirror Staff Photo/Laura Peters
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