Hannibal family experiences near miss with Mother Nature during Sunday night's storm
This Dodge Durango could not dodge Mother Nature's fury Sunday night. Erica Williams, the SUVs owner, was just seconds away from putting her 2-year-old inside the vehicle before the tree fell.
/ Photo by Melissa Shriver
HANNIBAL, MO -- Sunday night's severe weather not only brought thunderstorms, but also winds as high as 60 miles per hour which downed tree limbs and power lines.
But, as many residents cleaned up from the storm on Monday, one Hannibal family is counting its blessings after a close call with a downed tree on Sunday night.
Erica Williams was at a friend's house on Hazel Street with her boyfriend and 2-year-old son when the winds began to pick up.
"We turned the radio on and the winds were getting higher so we thought we would get home. We headed out to the car and heard this crackling and we looked up and saw the tree coming, so we turned around and took off running to the house. We were getting in the car and the baby would've been in the back seat in the car seat. He would've been the first one to die. It was quite a shock because we took off running and turned around and there's this whole tree on top of the car," Williams said.
"The baby would've died if we made it to the car," Williams said.
The tree came to rest on the back seat area of the car, splitting her son's car seat in two.
But even though her car is a total loss, she's says she's blessed.
"It was quite shocking but my kids are alive today. I don't care about the car. I have my kids. I can replace the car, but not my kids.
Williams says she convinced someone was watching over her family Sunday night.
Quite possibly her mother who died three years ago and who would have celebrated a birthday Sunday, the very night this tree crashed into her daughter's life.
Audrain and Ralls counties in Missouri also saw downed tree limbs.
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