The home that Kevin and Karen Julius have shared for 22 years at Saratoga Greens Mobile Home Park now has a gaping hole in its roof. A large pine tree fell Tuesday morning, after an apparent lightning strike.

The couple was sound asleep at the time.

“My house started shaking a bit and I stood up and I looked out the window and I thought the truck got trashed,” Kevin said.

Karen Julius told her husband that she thought a tree hit the house and when he went into the kitchen, he could see that the beam was split.

The couple said they have been concerned that something like this would happen because there are several towering pine trees that surround their home.

“We’ve been trying to get the park to do something about it for years now because we knew it. The tree people came in here and said they had to be taken down, but the park doesn’t want to do anything,” she said.

The Julius’ insurance companies denied them coverage because of the trees, the couple said.

Both are retired and are on fixed incomes. They cannot afford repairs, and can’t afford to replace the floors, furniture or food that was ruined when torrential rains saturated the inside of their home.

They are not sure what they are going to do now. Karen Julius said they have to get the roof fixed on the inside. The porch can be removed. They must get an electrician in there to examine the damage.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family.