WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - A massive tree crushed a car in Williamsburg after rough weather hit coastal Virginia and northeast North Carolina early Monday morning.
The silver lining is that everyone is okay, but the downed tree completely totaled the Jeep. Its owner, Sophie Alfaro says a lot of emotions are tied to the vehicle because her grandfather gave it to her before he passed away.
With debris, downed power lines and downed trees on Wickre Street, neighbors recall what they woke up to in the wee hours of the morning around 3 a.m.
"I could just hear all of this hard rain just hitting the house and loud winds and the lightning. So, I got up to look out my back door, but it was blowing so hard I couldn't see out of it," said neighbor Annie Jefferson.
After hearing people yelling outside, Alfaro said she looked outside her window to see her car completely crushed.
Alfaro told us her Jeep was all packed with all of her items and ready to go. She was supposed to be leaving for North Carolina on Tuesday.
Grateful she was not in the Jeep at the time of the incident, she now will only have memories of the car her grandfather passed down to her before he passed away.
"He gave it to me when I first started driving when I was 16. I've had ever since then - never got in a crash, never messed it up until today," Alfaro said.
Neighbors are now assessing the damage done to the area, but they say they're thankful only material items were lost.
"I am grateful, and not only that - I am blessed. They say God never sleeps nor slumbers, and I'm just glad he looked over us all," Jefferson said.
Alfaro says the next step is getting officials to remove the tree. She's hoping she can get all of her belongings out of it.
