'It's enough to wipe out anyone': Family survives after massive tree falls on their car

ATLANTA — A mother and her two daughters escaped unharmed after a massive tree fell on their car Monday morning in southwest Atlanta.

"I was at the red light, taking my baby to school and a tree fell. The power lines came down and everything was sparking," Danielle Harding told Channel 2's Audrey Washington.

Harding and her daughters, ages 9 and 2, were en route to West Manor Elementary School when the incident happened shortly after 8 a.m. on Benjamin E. Mays Drive.

Neighbor William Aaron heard the crash and ran to help, expecting the worst.

“I hoped nobody was hurt or killed, because that’s a huge tree. It’s enough to wipe out anyone," he said.

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Thankfully, Harding and her two children in the backseat escaped without a scratch. The tree took down some power lines, but Aaron says the power lines kept the tree from falling harder.

“That prevented it from doing further damage to the car," he said.

Crews shut down the road for a few hours as they worked to remove the tree and restore power.

Both Harding and Aaron say they’re thankful this all didn’t end in tragedy.

"I'm blessed that I'm still here and alive," said Harding, who told Channel 2 she plans to take a different route to the school from now on.

“It was just the grace of God that it didn’t come down any further and do any more damage to them,” Aaron said.

Information from the Atlanta Journal Constitution was used in this report

Cox Media Group