Couple Has Close Call With Large Limb After Powerful Storm Pounds SLC
Mar 29, 2019, 11:12 PM | Updated: Mar 6, 2020, 10:09 am
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — After a surprisingly powerful storm downed limbs and trees across the city, one family had an unexpected close call Friday morning.
Jeff Barrett and his wife, Tessa, had just loaded up their two children into the car to take them to daycare around 7:30 a.m., when she heard something disconcerting.
“As I’m just getting ready to give final kisses and say goodbye, I heard a little kind of ‘pop, pop’ sound, and the next thing I know that big branch started kind of coming (down),” Tessa said.
It was a large branch from the tree right above the car.
“I saw her kind of glance up and then she kind of screamed a little bit and jumped into the car,” Jeff said. “I mean, it hit the car right where her head was.”
Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski cautioned Friday about the dangers posed by “failing trees.”
What happened to the family took them by surprise.
“We got really lucky,” Tessa said. “The timing was crazy.”
Removing the downed limbs of the tree from the car proved to be a problem.
Jeff Barrett said he wasn’t sure when it was going to happen if he didn’t do it himself.
“They said they’d gotten 1,000-plus calls and they only had six crews and they were doing their best, but after 12-hours of work, their crews had gone home for the night,” he said.
The two were grateful what happened didn’t end worse.
“We’re out one bike rack, I don’t know if we’re out a car,” Jeff said. “You know, she just was a quarter-second away from death or a traumatic brain injury. I mean, it was pretty wild.”
