Henry County

Family members 'counting their blessings' after tree splits home in two

A couple says a phone call may have saved their lives.

Eric Williams and his girlfriend Katie narrowly escaped being pinned under a pine tree that toppled into their mobile home during Tropical Storm Irma Monday afternoon.

The two said they got out of bed, and minutes later a towering pine came crashing through their mobile home in Henry County.

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"I was in the living room when I heard this big boom. I thought it was a plane crash. Never realized it was a tree hitting the house," Williams said.

He got up and opened the bedroom door to find the massive tree.

The tree split the home in two and landed right on the mattress where the couple had been.

"The first thing I think about is how would I get this out? I couldn't get it out. You can't jack the tree up. You can't lift it," Williams said.

The weight of the tree cut their mobile home in two and rainwater poured into the room all night.

"We salvaged as much as we could. There's really not much we could get during the storm because we were scared it was too dangerous to go in there," he said.

The home may be totaled but Eric and Katie know just from looking at this that they could have lost much more.

"We could have easily lost our lives," he said.

The owner does have insurance and may be eligible for help from the Red Cross.