Family Escapes after 100-Ton Rock Fattens two Cars and their ...

A massive boulder tumbled down an hillside ripping out utility lines and crushing two cars before landing on a house.

The 100 tonne stone measuring 25 feet in diameter came loose in Ohio on Tuesday night after recent heavy rains.

Miraculously, no one was injured by the huge tumbling rock despite the extensive damage caused to Tim and Diane Pfaff?s home and cars.

In its path of destruction the rock managed to take out the phone, power and cable lines as well as the underground waterline in the immediate area, reports the Athens Messenger.

Rock and roll: The 100 tonne stone measuring 25 feet in diameter came crashing down on a home and two cars in Ohio

?

Close- call: Tim Pfaff looks at the damage caused to his Athens home and car by the boulder that came crashing down on Tuesday night

Destroyed: The family's Honda Civic was completely flattened, pictured, by the 100 tonne tumbling rock on Tuesday night

?

Although the Pfaffs were home at the time of the impact, they escaped unhurt as they were in the back of the property in Athens.

?My wife and I were upstairs in the bedroom. My son and a few of his friends were in the back bedroom watching TV. We were ready to go to bed ? It sounded like a huge hailstorm or a big, strong, sudden downpour. Then we saw flashes outside like lightning. It all happened so fast, we didn?t know what was going on,? Mr Pfaff told The Messenger.

Work is underway to remove the large boulder by breaking it down into smaller pieces using jackhammers. The removal could take up to a month.

Andy Stone, director of Athens? Department of Engineering and Public Works, said the boulder which came loose at around 10.30pm damaged four cars and the front of the house at 20 Fort St.

Stone told the Messenger the front of the property was primarily used as a carport and the house could most likely be saved.

The family and their neighbors were evacuated as crews examined the hillside.

Stone told the Messenger that the large boulder would need to be broken into smaller pieces in order to be removed from the scene.

Mary Diles, who lives just a few doors from the damaged property, said she was in her driveway when she heard the hillside give way.

?At first I thought it was thunder,? she told the Messenger. ?Then I saw sparks and thought it was firecrackers.?

Diles said if she had been driving down the street a minute earlier, she would have probably died.

Stone said iin the report that t appeared that tree roots had grown into a fissure in the boulder.

He told the Messenger that the tree roots paired with the heavy rain showers this week were likely the culprit behind the rock slide.
Read more at The Daily Mail

Source: http://www.tlj-news.com/2012/03/22/family-escapes-after-100-ton-rock-fattens-two-cars-and-their-home-while-they-were-inside/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=family-escapes-after-100-ton-rock-fattens-two-cars-and-their-home-while-they-were-inside

lord monckton andy kaufman october 21 2011 ohio ohio john beck john beck