Fallen tree destroys Lee County couple’s home

LEESBURG — Robert and Elena Evans miraculously escaped injury early Friday morning when a large tree fell on their U.S. Highway 19 mobile home, “right between the two of us,” according to Robert Evans.

Evans, an independent contractor who delivers The Albany Herald, had just finished his newspaper route Friday morning when he and Elena settled down to ride out bad weather associated with Hurricane Hermine.

Around 2:45 a.m., disaster struck.

“We were sitting in the living room, watching TV, when the tree came down through the house, right between the two of us,” Evans said. “It’s a miracle we weren’t either one hurt. We’re also very fortunate because our kids (ages 11 and 5) weren’t at home at the time.

“We came to my mother-in-law’s house and we’re staying there right now. We’re still kind of in shock. I don’t know what we’ll do next.”

The tree, which was located in a wooded area in the Evans’ backyard, engulfed the western-most half of the mobile home, located in the Ealum Estates subdivision. Evans’ Toyota Matrix SUV, which was parked close to the mobile home, also sustained severe damage.

“We’re very thankful today that we weren’t hurt by the tree; you see how huge it is,” Elena Evans said Friday. “We’ll start figuring out later today what we’re going to do.”

Contacted Friday afternoon, Elena Evans said a Gofund.me page had been set up (Gofund.me/2mwzearq) to help assist the family.

“Robert and I have just been going through the worst two years of our lives,” she said. “My grandmother passed in January, and my mom was her only child, so she inherited everything my grandmom left. She took care of some family business in Miami, and when she returned home, she gave me the money to buy this trailer. I paid for it yesterday, and we hadn’t had time to put insurance on it.

“My niece passed away in April and we’d been robbed in October of last year. We’d just started to get things back together and now this.”