Home, family business damaged after driver veers off the road

POWDER SPRINGS, Ga. - A family in Powder Springs is left picking up the pieces after a truck crashed into their home and business.

Jeff Smith said he was away from the home when his coworker told him a truck had crashed into his home.

"'There's a white pickup truck in your house. I said, 'What do you mean?' He said, 'A white pickup truck is in your house. It ran off the road and hit your house,'" Smith said.

Smith said he saw the truck sitting on his porch when he got to his home.

"My little girl, she came running, grabbed me, and held on. She was crying. I wound up crying. She was scared," he said.

He said his wife and daughter were home at the time.

Smith said his 12-year-old daughter would have been hit if the truck did not stop where it did.

"My youngest daughter was sitting on the couch in the living room doing her homework. When he hit the wall, she came out of the couch screaming hysterically because she didn't know what had happened. My wife was the same. She was waiting on customers under the stand," he said.

Smith said the driver veered off the road to avoid a crash with a car.

Luckily, the driver wasn't seriously hurt and no one inside was hurt.

"He said he began to sneeze violently, and when he regained his composure, he looked up and saw he was about to rear-end a car. He turned sharply to the left. He hit the brake, his foot slipped off the brake and he wound up on my front porch," Smith said.

This place isn't just the Smith family home, it's also a family-run business.

"We've been open since 1977," Smith said. "It's just a summertime business. We work six months out of the year."

Smith Produce has been a source of fresh fruits and vegetables for the community since Smith's father built it from the ground up.

He took the business over after his father passed away.

"We just have to hope and pray we get our house put back together really soon. It's heartbreaking to see something that belongs to you to be destroyed but accidents happen," Smith said.

Smith said he's not sure if the store will be open as the repairs happen.

He and his family said they're thankful for all of the support they've received from the community.

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