Fayetteville family escapes injury as massive tree crashes through home during storm

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. -  A Fayetteville mother says she is grateful she and her son escaped injury after a massive tree crashed through their home during a powerful storm that swept across metro Atlanta Wednesday night.

The tree fell shortly after a flash of lightning and a loud rumble of thunder shook the area, damaging the home but missing the bedrooms.

What they're saying:

"You never want to wake up to something like that," said Laura Hill, who lives in the home with her son, Wenton. "I looked down the hallway towards the kitchen and I see this dusty stuff and I’m thinking that my new refrigerator exploded... which I never heard of before, but it sounded like something exploded. I looked up and saw tree limbs sticking through the kitchen."

Wenton Hill described seeing the lightning moments before the tree came down. "I saw lightning strike and thunder followed it. I thought it was just a big thunder shaking the house. I heard my mom call me," he said.

The falling tree narrowly missed hitting Wenton as he went outside to check on the family’s cars. "That’s when that fell and almost hit me. I thankfully got back in the house," he said.

Laura Hill, a science teacher, believes the tree's root system may have contributed to its fall. "The roots of the tree didn’t grow straight down to fully anchor and support the weight, but rather in a circle," she said as she walked through the damage.

She added, "That’s a big ole tree... It was laying the whole length of the house. His room is back there."

While several trees on the street also came down during the storm, Hill said none of the others landed on homes. Cleanup is just beginning at her house, but she’s focusing on what was spared rather than what was lost.

"You always think it will never happen to me, but yes, things happen to everybody," she said. "Pray before you go to bed and keep your faith in the Lord because He kept us here. We are blessed. Even though this happened, we are blessed."

What you can do:

The family has set up an online account to help recover.