Huntsville Couple Says ‘Feeling’ Helped Them Avoid Falling Tree

HUNTSVILLE, Utah – As damaging winds raged across a wide section of northern Utah Tuesday, a couple said a feeling led them to sleep elsewhere in their house at the time when a large tree crashed into their upstairs.

Brian and Brooke Saunders said they usually sleep in the upstairs of their 106-year-old home, but the feeling was one that couldn’t be ignored.

“At four in the morning, I had a prompting to move downstairs, and so we did,” Brooke Saunders said. “Sure enough, the tree came down hours later onto our home.”

She said she was awakened by the crash.

Crazy scene here in Huntsville. Brian and Brooke Saunders are trying to figure out what to do with the massive tree that fell on their house. Brooke says a feeling got them out of harm’s way… @KSL5TV #KSLTV #Utah #utwx pic.twitter.com/UDJ4NzM2XL

— Andrew Adams (@AndrewAdamsKSL) September 8, 2020

“It’s a 90-year-old tree that came down!” Saunders said.

The tree smashed the front porch and came to rest against the side of the house. The couple said that limbs of the tree pierced inside the home.

“It’s hard to see our beautiful home crushed like that,” Brian Saunders said.

A tree removal and cleanup service surveyed the property Tuesday afternoon to see how the tree could most easily be lifted away from the house without causing additional damage.

Saunders said he had also been in contact with his insurance.

It was a devastating development for the Saunders, who had been renovating the old house for years.

“It’s pretty heartbreaking, but glad to be safe,” Brooke Saunders said.

The house appeared to be at the epicenter of the damage in Huntsville, which saw numerous downed trees, limbs and power lines.

Brooke and Brian Saunders said they were grateful for the feeling to sleep somewhere else and get out of the upstairs.

“It just reminds me how strong we need to be rooted in ‘storms of life’ like this,” Brooke Saunders said.