LAUREL — A Laurel woman is grateful to be alive after a powerful windstorm sent a large tree crashing through her car, landing just inches from her head as she waited to pick up her daughter from school.
Listen to a Laurel woman retell her close call here:
Jodi Mackay was parked across the street from Laurel Middle School around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday when strong winds, which measured at more than 70 mph in the area, suddenly brought a nearby tree down onto her vehicle.
“I heard a big crash and crack, and next thing I know, there's a Christmas tree inside my passenger window," said Mackay.
The tree smashed through the passenger side of her car and broke her window, narrowly missing her. Mackay said she felt the tree briefly touch her, but it did not cause any serious injury.
“That tree did bonk me a little bit, so that was really scary. But I'm okay," said Mackay. "I don't think I'm going to enjoy windstorms very much from now on."
What was even scarier for her was that after she realized where the tree had landed. The largest portion of it ended up striking right through the passenger seat window, the spot where her seventh-grade daughter, Allison, would have been sitting minutes later.
"I don't think I fully processed or really allowed myself to think about that too much," said Mackay. "When you see the picture, you see that huge chunk of tree is just right there in my passenger seat, and I'm just really grateful that she wasn't in the car yet.”
Parents who were also waiting nearby, along with a police officer and city officials, rushed in to help.
"There was a big chunk of tree that was in the middle of the road, and all the moms grabbed the tree and pulled it off the middle of the road into the boulevard," said Mackay. "They say like, 'When bad things happen, to look for the helpers.'"
The storm’s damage for Mackay did not stop there. Less than two hours later, her dog daycare center and boarding business, Molly & Friends, suffered damage of its own when the powerful gusts tore down the back fence and forced the business to close for the day on Thursday.
“The wind knocked the fence down back here,” said Mackay. “But luckily, all the staff were fine. They got all the dogs inside.”
The business installed a temporary fence while continuing to assess the damage and plans to reopen on Friday.
Mackay was still able to drive away her vehicle, a 2015 Subaru Forester, the next day, though a window was shattered and several parts of the exterior were damaged. She said she is waiting to hear back from her insurance company as cleanup continues.
Now, a day after the dust and wind have settled, she's left without a car. But what she was left with is an immense amount of gratitude.
“Well, thankfully, it wasn't the tree that went through my head," she joked. "Lots of things to be grateful for even in the midst of kind of some chaos."
She added that the immediate response from the community has left a lasting impression, and she is glad no one was harmed.
"It's easy to get bogged down into the bad part of it, but I'm really grateful," said Mackay. "I think the more that we can help each other and try to help people handle these kinds of things, the better. Sometimes it brings out the best in us.”
