22-05-2025
Storm knocks large tree onto house in Smyrna
A terrified family rushed out of a home in the middle of the night when a large tree crashed onto it.
Channel 2's Tom Regan was at the home on Crowe Drive as cleanup was underway Wednesday. They had to bring in a crane to lift the tree off the house.
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It was a rude awakening for the family inside. Powerful winds and driving rain sent the giant tree crashing onto the house in the early morning hours.
Leland Mahone said he was asleep.
'I heard a lot of water, thundering, and my mom was banging on the door, 'Wake up, wake up, we've got to go!' Because she said heard the tree,' he said.
The teen said he heard a loud creaking in the walls of the bathroom nearby. They feared the large tree was about to slice the roof and crush their house.
It was time to get out.
Considering the size of the tree and way it fell, it's surprising it didn't cause more damage to the family's home.
'There's definitely some roof shingles, the gutters, the whole gutter fell of the facia,' said Sean Bundy, Tomahawk Tree Service. 'It didn't go through the roof, luckily. They said there's not holes in the roof, through the home or anything.'
Leland says he's glad they decided to evacuate, just in case.
'Yeah, I was pretty scared,' he said. 'I didn't want all my stuff to get wet.'
Because of the enormous size of the toppled tree and its position, crews had to trim back limbs of nearby trees to make room for the crane to lift it from the roof.
Despite the damage in this area and nearby, there were few reports of power outages.
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