GRANITE CITY, Ill. — A Granite City couple was injured Monday afternoon when a large tree fell on their home as strong winds sweep through the region.
Crews were called at around 4 p.m. to the 2400 block of Logan Street, where a tree had uprooted from the ground and crashed through the front of the home.
Husband and wife Angela Reynolds and Adolph Buehler were injured and taken to the hospital.
"It was scary!" Buehler said. "We were just sitting there, and the next thing all that stuff was crashing on top of us. The ceiling, the beams, all that insulation, the chandelier all of it just fell in our living room."
"I heard a loud boom and then just heard my mom and dad screaming," said Trenton Reynolds, the couple's son.
He was standing on the back porch when a huge gust of wind knocked the tree over. A china cabinet fell on his 66-year-old stepfather's legs and trapped him in his chair, and wreckage from the ceiling fell on his 50-year-old mother. He and a neighbor freed his father, and his mother suffered cuts, scratches and bruises, he said.
"I just looked over, and my wife was covered with all that stuff," Beuhler said. "We were both just really, really scared."
Paramedics took the couple to the hospital for treatment.
"My wife and I were both treated and released from the hospital. She was already partially paralyzed, and I have a pacemaker in my chest. Thank God we're still alive," Beuhler said.
The family's lived in the home on Logan Street for nearly six years. During that time, Reynolds said the family has repeatedly expressed concerns about the tree to the city.
"We have been asking the city to tear that tree, but they never would. I kept fearing one day it would fall," Buehler said.
"It was a serious storm. My neighbor called me and told me all those trees fell," said Danny Dawson, who lives a block over on Missouri Avenue.
The wicked, summer storm also sent a decades-old tree on in Dawson's property, crashing to the ground.
"I'm so glad nobody was hurt. I'm also glad that I have insurance. Many of the people around here I think don't have insurance that will cover their damage." Dawson said.
A severe thunderstorm watch was in effect throughout most of the St. Louis area until 9 p.m. Monday.
As of 10 p.m., about 1,500 Madison County customers were still without power.
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