By JOHN ANDERSON
Christina McDonald had just finished a late shift taking care of a veteran in Allegany County as a home health care aide on Wednesday night.
She sat in her car at 10:30 p.m. debating on finishing the last few drags on her cigarette or going in her house to see her daughter and finalize Thanksgiving plans.
Instead of finishing the cigarette, she went inside. A short storm blew through Belfast, and she went inside as the snow, wind and rain picked up. As soon as she got in the door, she went to call her daughter to come over, as she lives across the street. Her daughter was walking in the door.
Suddenly, seconds after her daughter came into the house and she left the car, a large tree came down and ripped off the entry to the house and also smashed on top of her car.
Had she stayed in the car to finish the cigarette and her daughter come over one minute later, they both could have been crushed by the tree.
“It sounded like a bomb went off, the house shook,” McDonald said.
She lives behind the Belfast library on Chestnut Street. A door bell camera from the neighbors house captured the incident. She took photos as well.
Because of the nature of the accident, she does not have renters insurance to help pay for the car damages. She takes care of veterans through the AIM Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program. She does not have a car right now, but will look for ways to get to work.
When asked if she needs help, she said, “I’d rather get a message out. It’s definitely worth paying the extra money on your insurance and to get those dead branches or trees taken down.”
She said her landlord is doing everything he can as well, but even his insurance only covers so much.
“You always think something like that won’t happen to you,” McDonald said. “When the tree hit the top of the car — like a magnet to a refrigerator, perfectly — it set the lights off. The back windshield was shattered out and there are dents and damage all over the car. The tree also took the door handle right off. The tree also knocked over and broke shutters on the door to the entryway of the house.”
She went outside and tried to move some of the debris.
“Those trees don’t look that heavy, but I tried to move one and it wouldn’t budge,” she said. “I really do feel people like me who live paycheck-to-paycheck should really take caution this time of year with their vehicles and insurance.”
The incident has her second-guessing where she parks.
“I should’ve been smarter and parked at the end of my driveway. Maybe I wasn’t paying attention to the wind and thinking something like that wouldn’t happen to me. This has me stressed out and up in the air with what I am able to do and afford to do. It’s such a bummer,” she added.
She didn’t stay down for long.
On Thanksgiving, McDonald spent time with her family but at 6 p.m. she borrowed a car and drove to Rushford for work to help a veteran.
Swipe to see a slideshow of the debris:
