Old oak tree falls on house and across Maude Avenue in Abbeville

A large oak tree passed away on Sunday in Abbeville, with one half crashing onto an unoccupied house on Maude Avenue, while the other half toppled across the street, taking down power lines in the process.
The silver lining is that the house was empty, and there were no pedestrians or vehicles on Maude Avenue when the other half of the tree came down.
Deborah Istre, owner of the The Guest House Bed and Breakfast located at the intersection of State Street and Maude Avenue, was in her backyard on Monday watching around 15 city workers removing the large oak tree branch at fell across Maude Avenue.
According to Istre, the tree split occurred at two separate times despite calm weather on Sunday.
The section that landed on the house happened at approximately 2:30 p.m. Istre inspected the aged tree and observed that the remaining half was tilting toward the road, appearing as though it could collapse at any moment. She contacted the city to notify them about the fallen tree and the potential risk of another part coming down. A few hours later, at around 10:30 p.m., the second portion of the tree fell onto Maude Avenue.
“I did not hear it, but my guests in the bed and breakfast heard it,” said Istre. “I woke up when the electricity went off.”
The exact number of Abbeville residents who lost power on Sunday night is unclear. However, by morning, those living on the south side of Maude Avenue had their electricity restored.
Maude Avenue was anticipated to be reopened by Monday morning.
“The city workers have been fantastic. They were here until around 2:30 Sunday morning and returned this morning,” Istre mentioned.