Family in shock after Tropical Storm Michael completely destroys their home
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COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO)– As the strong winds ripped through South Carolina, the Midlands had plenty of trees come down as Michael moved through. There were three family members in the house on Randall Avenue when a large tree came crashing down right through the middle of the home. The family said they are all very fortunate they are alive.
Hector Benthall and his family look on in disbelief as tree branches come out from the middle of his home.
“My mind was going crazy. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Benthall said. Benthall just left the house and was a few minutes away when he got a call he never would have expected.
“My girlfriend called me and said a tree fell on the house and my father was stuck in the room because the tree was on him,” Benthall said.
His next-door neighbor Keito Johnson was having his morning coffee when he heard a noise he described as sounding like a bomb. That sound was the tree crushing the home, pinning Hector’s stepfather to the bed and trapping his girlfriend and her 1-year-old baby girl inside.
“Due to what we see here and what it could’ve been, it’s still a blessing,” Johnson said. Johnson was able to break open a window and get Hector’s girlfriend and infant out, but they had to wait for EMS since the tree broke his step-father’s leg.Benthall said even though his home is a total loss, he’s lucky because everyone got out safely.
“In society we can get so caught up in the material and monetaries, we forget the value of life. Only thing that’s important is that you have another day to rebuild,” Jordon said. Hector said he does not know how long it’s going to take to put his life back together. The only belongings he has now are the clothes on his back.
“We still can’t believe it happened. It hasn’t sunk in yet,” Benthall said.
Hector said they will be staying with family, but his neighbor said, if they need a place to stay, they are more than welcome in his home because that is what neighbors do.
