ISSAQUAH, Wash. — John and Jacklin Marcus moved into their Issaquah home in 2024 – just a few months before a bomb cyclone ripped through Washington.
When the storm hit, three trees crashed through their roof in the middle of the night.
“There were probably gusts here about 90 miles per hour,” John told KIRO 7 News. We were very fortunate that no tree came through our bedroom and squished us.”
The damages? Around $400,000.
John said half of the roof was just one.
“It was absolutely open to the air,” he noted.
After the storm came the challenge of figuring out what it would take to rebuild. The couple started by reaching out to their insurance company—and learning what would and wouldn’t be covered.
John said the couple got lucky with their contractor.
“I think the big lesson is to talk to past customers and make sure these are upstanding, honorable people,” he shared.
He told KIRO 7 that some of his neighbors weren’t as lucky.
“There were people, while we were moving back in six months later, that still had tarps on their houses because either the insurance or the contractor or both,” he said.
More than one hundred trees fell during the storm – and John wasn’t taking any chances. He said he had an arborist check out the property – to look for any that may not withstand another storm.
“They knocked down another 16 trees, just for safety,” he said.
One year later – the couple is still working to get past what happened.
“I think my wife is just getting over sort of PTSD, I mean, it’s a frightening experience.”
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