Tree crushes Jeep in Liberty Center moments after the occupants get out

LIBERTY CENTER, Ohio (WTVG) - The moment when a sudden burst of wind toppled a huge tree in Liberty Center was caught on security camera, as the tree crushed a Jeep that was occupied by two high school girls moments earlier. They had gotten out of the vehicle to order ice cream at The Tiger Den Dairy Bar.

“I saw it coming and all I could yell was, ‘Tree! Tree! Tree!” said Kent “Duke” Snyder, owner of The Tiger Den Dairy Bar. “Everybody always says that a tornado sounds like a train coming and that’s exactly what I heard, but I realized that it was the tree cracking.”

Not only did the tree wreck the Jeep, it pulled down power lines.

“Took the poles with it. It snapped the first pole, and it was a domino effect all the way down with about 7 more poles,” explains Jay Branson, mayor of Liberty Center. He says village employees worked overnight so Toledo Edison could restore power today.

However, Branson adds the story everyone is talking about is how the girls narrowly avoided getting hurt. He explains the high schooler was behind the wheel of a vehicle that had great sentimental value because it belonged to her late mother.

“Her mom passed three years ago, and that was the car she left her. So, looks like a totaled out car and unfortunately, a total loss,” Branson said.

There may be a total loss to the vehicle, but there was no loss of life and no one was hurt.

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