Local

'It was God’: Mailman unscathed after tree crushes USPS truck

STATESVILLE, N.C. — Strong winds from Tropical Storm Zeta toppled a tree in Statesville, which crushed a USPS mail truck while the driver was still inside.

Maximum wind speeds in the area on Thursday were clocked at about 40 mph, which knocked over trees and left tens of thousands without power.

[Massive tree splits home in half, narrowly missing 4-year-old boy]

The tree smashed in the entire front end of the mail truck and, fortunately, “Mail Man John,” who was inside, was not hurt.

Residents watched the mail carrier lean out of the window to put mail in a mailbox when the tree slammed down onto the truck.

“You would have not even known this happened to him,” neighbor Kelly Hogan said. “I pulled around here and saw him standing there. I said, ‘How are you even alive right now?’ And he and his wife both said, ‘It was God.’”