1-year-old girl rescued after high winds cause tree to crash into nursery

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A 1-year-old girl was rescued Thursday morning after a large tree fell on her bedroom at her family’s home in DeKalb County.

Firefighters responded to reports of a tree down and a child trapped at a home on Scarborough Lane around 6 a.m.

Winds across metro Atlanta have been gusting to 40 mph Thursday morning, according to Severe Weather Team 2 Meteorologist Brian Monahan.

The baby’s mother, Ashlee Johnson, Channel 2 Action News that she woke up to a loud crash and drywall falling.

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She and her 4-year-old son, Ace, were in bed together, but her daughter’s room was upstairs.

“So I jump up, I look at him and he’s ok,” Johnson said. “I run to my daughter’s room and that’s when I notice it was a tree. Before that, I thought maybe it just rained all night and the roof caved in.”

Johnson quickly realized the tree was blocking the door and she couldn’t get in. Her daughter, 1-year-old Aasha “Cupcake” Johnson was in her crib and the ceiling above her was continuing to crumble.

“The wall was continuing to cave and the hole was continuing to get bigger,” Johnson said. “And I’m watching and the hole is literally right above her crib. I just thought, ‘That tree is going to fall on my baby.’”

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Johnson said she was worried that if she kept pushing on the door, it could cause the tree to fall.

Thankfully, firefighters arrived on scene within minutes and were able to cut through the door and get Cupcake out of the room.

“They used the hacksaw, some kind of electronic tool, cut her door open and went and got my baby and I just like... I just cried. I was so scared,” Johnson said.

Johnson said having her house damaged is just one more blow after losing her husband last year.

“I’m grateful that me and my children are alive, because if I lost my baby after loosing my husband...,” Johnson said, getting emotional. “I’m just thankful that everybody is safe. But it was definitely scary. It was nothing that I ever want to have to go through again.”

The Red Cross is working to find Johnson and her children shelter.

Severe Weather Team 2 Meteorologist Brian Monahan said wind gusts were up to 40 mph across metro Atlanta Thursday morning.

“With all the rain we saw over the last couple of days, the ground is pretty saturated. With strong wind gusts, up to about 40 mph, it’s fairly easy to see some weaker trees come down,” Monahan said.

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