Homes damaged by weight of snow

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - Heavy snow and ice led to several roof and awning collapses in the Miami Valley.

Residents in the 900 block of Clement Drive in Dayton, woke up on Tuesday morning, to find their awning ripped off the rooftop.

Mike Gallimore with Buckeye home services estimated it caused about $6,000 worth of damages.

On Travis Drive in Riverside, Tom Hanley had a rude awakening, when he woke to the sound of his awning crashing to the ground.

"I thought maybe a tree fell after I woke up a little bit. I thought maybe a tree came down," said Hanley.

Down with the awning came his phone and cable lines as well.

"Looks like it bent up the air conditioner really bad. I need to try and turn it on and see if it's working," said Hanley.

Gallimore said staff at his company, Buckeye Home Services, were getting 6-10 similar calls a day.

"Due to the severe ice and snow load that they've got up there, everything is starting to melt and stress is being put on awnings and roofs," said Gallimore.

Gallimore said, the best prevention was precaution.

"Look for any type of sagging, any type of dripping. You can visually see if there's a big build up of snow. We can remove that. We've been going around and doing that as well," said Gallimore.

Experts said trying to get up on your own roof to sweep it off was extremely dangerous.  The surfaces were very slick.  They recommended contacting a professional, who had the training and proper equipment to do the job safely.