A strong thunderstorm swept across portions of Rowan County Sunday night, leaving neighborhoods with damage from wind, hail and possibly lightning.

Some houses were hit by falling limbs and trees, including the Coughenour residence on Ridge Street, off Peach Orchard Road, where an oak tree toppled and came to rest on the roof. Early Monday, the yard was littered with leaves and branches.

The Coughenours — Harold and Sue, sons Brian and Deron and grandson Rhett — said they knew there was a storm blowing up Sunday night, but they never anticipated its severity.

The four adults were in the living room watching television about 9 p.m. when the approximately 50-foot oak tree crashed onto their house.

“It was like a big crash right before the tree hit the house,” according to Deron. He said it sounded like lightning might have struck the tree, but he wasn’t sure.

Fortunately, everyone escaped injury — including Scuby, one of the family’s dogs who was chained in the yard near the tree.

As soon as the family realized what had happened, they rushed out to check on their pet. They found the dog among the fallen tree’s leaves and branches, apparently unscathed.

Six-year-old Rhett was asleep when the tree fell on the house. “He thinks it’s cool,” Deron said. “He thinks it looks like a jungle out the window.”

Although the tree did not come through the roof, it did cause damage.

“The best I can tell, it’s just shingles and gutter which is amazing considering the size of the tree,” Deron said.

Part of the tree took down a power line. It also struck a vehicle, causing some frontal damage.

After inspecting the tree this morning, Deron determined that it had been diseased. Now he is concerned about the condition of the rest of the trees on the Coughenour property, which they’ve owned for about six years.

“I think there needs to be some looking into the trees around here,” he said.

Deron, who works for Foils trucking company in Harrisburg, said it would take weeks to clear out if he has to do it himself. He had been in the process of trying to fix up the yard for his parents.

The accident comes at a hard time in the Coughenours life. His father, Harold was recently diagnosed with stomach and esophagus cancer and is currently undergoing treatment.

Just last week, he said, his father was enjoying the shade under the tree that fell.

“I never dreamed that one there would come down,” Deron said.

In Windmill Ridge, another West Rowan neighborhood hit hard by the storms, Nancy Vick never dreamed she would see water coming through the walls of her house.

Vick, who lives at 302 Windmill Ridge Road, said the storm came upon her home without warning.

“It was wild, we were watching the VCR and I said ‘Honey don’t you think we ought to take the tape out to see if there are any weather reports?’ ”Vick asked her husband.

But there were no weather reports about the storm that caused severe damage to her house.

“We are at the top of the hill, in our neighborhood, so to speak, and I could see like storm clouds rolling in from the next development,” Vick said.

“Butit was not what we expected.”

She said the wind-whipped rain infiltrated the walls of the home, and two inches of water accumulated in a back room.

She and her husband had to use towels to soak up some of the water from the room.

And even though all the windows were closed, when Vick went to her bedroom on the second floor yet another disaster awaited.

“The air ducts are in ceiling and it [rain] was pouring through the air duct and soaking the carpet,” she said.

She has contacted her insurance company and hopes some of the damage can be repaired. “We have not even been up in the attic yet,” she said.

Outside there are additional signs of the storm. The wind picked up a gas grill and a glass table and threw it across the deck, she said.

Trees were down at houses surrounding her. But while the storm battered her home, others apparently slept through the whole thing, remaining snug and dry.

“I called my neighbor next door and he said ‘What storm?’ ”