Atlanta father jumps into action to save family after 75-year-old tree falls on home

ATLANTA — This week’s heavy rain sent a tree toppling onto a Southwest Atlanta family’s home Saturday morning.

Christman Hampton and his daughter, Sydney Robinson, live in the home with a mother and children who were staying the night with them when the tree fell into the upstairs portion of the home.

Hampton told WSB Tonight’s Courtney Francisco he acted quickly to get everyone outside.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

“First thing you do is you make sure everyone is okay. Everybody get up, you check to make sure everything’s okay, there’s no fire going on. You physically put your hands on everyone to make sure they’re okay and get everyone out,” said Hampton.

The more than 100-foot tall, 75-year-old tree fell around 2:30 in the morning. The roots ripped out of the soil after days of rain saturated the metro.

Channel 2 Action News cameras were at the scene on Mayflower Avenue SW and watched as crews worked to remove the tree.

TRENDING STORIES:

“It looks like it had rotted from the bottom,” said Robinson.

A removal company took more than 12 hours to get a crane large enough to lift the pieces off the house.

The family still hadn’t slept as we approached the 24-hour mark since the tree fell. Their priority was assessing the damage and determining if they needed to find another place to stay.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

“We’re hoping it doesn’t rain anymore,” said Hampton.

No injuries were reported from the incident.

1 of 9