6 children in Myers Park home crushed by large tree

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A massive tree fell onto a Myers Park home during Tuesday’s storms.

Six middle school children were inside the home on, Colony Drive, for a sleepover when the tree crashed down.

They were watching a movie upstairs when powerful storms knocked a tree branch onto the home.

Homeowner Towner Blackstock said when he went to check on the boys, they were already running down the stairs.

“I heard first a 'boom,' and then right after it, you know, the house just shook as if a bomb went off,” Blackstock said.

His wife, 14-year-old daughter and her friend were safe, too.

“If that tree had fallen just a couple of degrees off, maybe even 15 feet closer to the house, my wife and six kids could have been hurt or even killed,” Blackstock said.

The massive tree crushed the bricks on the front of the home, and the tree branch pierced the roof.

Branches also dented Blackstock's car and crushed his neighbor's Subaru.

Crews were at the home by 8 a.m. Wednesday, removing the branches from the cars so a crane could be used to get the big one off the home.

Arborist Craig Errington said that process would be time-consuming.

“This is a dynamic, fluid situation,” said Errington, of Heartwood Tree Service. "Sometimes things can change. There are pressure points, there's glass, (there's) obviously danger, so we got to be just slow and safe.”

Errington didn't know what caused the tree to fall, but it fell from a neighbor's yard.

“I just feel lucky and fortunate that we are all safe,” Blackstock said.

Errington said the company has received multiple calls this week about storm damage.

Cox Media Group