PONTIAC, Mich. – Strong winds early Sunday morning appear to be what may have what caused a huge tree to fall into a Pontiac yard.
Patricia Ann Williams Harris said she woke up to her house shaking and lights flashing.
She said the first thing she did was make sure her 14-year-old son was OK.
"He said, 'Mom, what was that?'"
He wasn't hurt, but startled.
The tree fell onto Harris' property, narrowly missing her home or significantly damaging her truck.
Harris, a mother of three, U.S. Army veteran and on a fixed income, can’t afford the cleanup. She said she's hoping the city will remove the tree.
Harris said they can’t even open the front door of the home that she's lived in for five years.
She said she’s always worried about the tree because it seemed brittle.
"We knew it was gonna fall one day. We just didn't know which way it was going to fall," she said.
Harris hasn’t worked since her husband died of cancer.
"I thought, 'Wow, my husband put up (the) fence (and it) broke fall of tree,'" Harris said.
After calling the Oakland County Sheriff's Office, they showed up and told her to contact city officials.
She said because she can’t afford to remove the tree, she hoped the city will step in.
Local 4 News contacted Pontiac Mayor Deirdre Waterman, who said the tree is on the right of way and that the city will take care of the cleanup.
Anyone who would like to give additional help to Harris can do so by clicking here.