Falling tree kills 7-year-old in bedroom following winter storm, Tennessee police say
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A 7-year-old girl died after a tree collapsed into a home in Townsend, Tennessee, just outside the entrance of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, according to media reports.
The Blount County Sheriff’s Office told WVLT that it received a call around 8 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 3, about a fallen tree on a home near the Cades Cove entrance of the national park.
According to WATE, it was undetermined if the storm the night before that swept through East Tennessee contributed to the fallen tree, although emergency personnel received several calls about fallen trees and debris in roadways around the same time Monday morning.
The National Weather Service issued a Hazardous Weather Outlook, which was updated on Jan. 3, for the Great Smoky Mountains and surrounding areas, including Blount County.
First responders told WBIR the young girl was found dead inside the home. Several response crews responded to the call and worked to remove the tree from the house, with chainsaws and other equipment onsite, according to WBIR.
The rest of the child’s family are safe, WVLT reported.
Snow moved through East Tennessee Sunday night into Monday morning. The Great Smoky Mountains and the foothills received the most snowfall, according to WATE. A map posted by the National Weather Service’s Morristown station just before 1 p.m. shows Townsend received at least two inches of snow.
McClatchy News reached out to the Blount County Sheriff’s Office and the Volunteer Townsend Fire Department for comment on the incident and did not receive an immediate response.
This story was originally published January 3, 2022 at 3:01 PM with the headline "Falling tree kills 7-year-old in bedroom following winter storm, Tennessee police say."
