Family of 4 survives massive oak tree toppling onto their 110-year-old house in Smyrna

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A family of four is thankful everyone is OK after a large oak tree came toppling on their historic home.

Channel 2′s Steve Gehlbach showed you the damage on Lee Street in Smyrna on Channel 2 Action News at 4.

The family was taken by surprise Sunday night around 6 p.m. when a burst of high winds topped a tree onto their more than 110-year-old house.

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They were “still a little in shock,” said homeowner Kyle Rains, who was home with his wife and their young sons. “Just a massive cracking noise then 20 seconds later, came down.”

Rains said he and his 4-year-old son were on the floor playing, while his wife and 9-month-old son were in the back bedroom.

The oak fell on the front room, which was Rains’ office and the baby’s nursery.

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“I came out here, looked and saw the ceiling on the floor, a giant dust cloud. My family in the bedroom back here, made sure they were OK.”

The root of the tree appears about nine to 10 feet high and 15 feet across. The tree fell right where the baby’s nursery is.

“My 9-month-old was napping and usually naps in there. His crib’s in there, a little playpen completely flattened. If it happened at a different time, we both could have easily been in there.”

Rains told Channel 2 Action News that the family had recently had the tree trimmed and checked, and that there were no warning signs, nothing that could have predicted something like this happening.

Tree crews were cutting away the large branches on Monday and the family was salvaging what they can and getting a better look at the damage.

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