By ALEXIS ZOTOS
6 News Reporter
KNOXVILLE (WATE) - Rain and possible severe thunderstorms are not expected to disappear from the forecast anytime soon. With more rain on the horizon, many are still trying to clean up from last week's severe weather.
"I'm worried it's going to happen again," North Knoxville resident Sue Hickman said.
Hickman and her family were sitting on the porch when a tree crashed into their home on Chickamauga Avenue. Fortunately for them, only the porch was damaged.
"It could have gone through our living room with us in," she said.
That is exactly what happened to the Collatie family.
"I was just like, 'Please God, don't let a tree fall.' Before I could finish my sentence, we were digging out of rubble and basically outside," Anita Collatie said, who was home with her daughter, grandson and his friend.
The monstrous tree crashed into her grandson's bedroom and an adjoining room with the family trapped inside.
"(My grandson) was trapped from the waist down," Collatie said.
Fortunately he and the rest of the family suffered a few scratches, but the house will take six months to rebuild.
"That big tree looked like it sliced through that house like butter. It looks like a big job but it looks worse than it is," Nick Nickels of Joe Construction said. He was surveying the damage Tuesday night at the Collates North Knoxville home.
The Collatie family has insurance and will stay in a rental property until their house is rebuilt.
The Hickmans are still waiting to hear from their landlord and are apprehensive as more storms roll through the area.
"We're worried that (the porch) might actually come tumbling down," said Hickman.
As for the Collaties, their biggest worry is water damage.
"You can hear that thunder rolling in, so more storms are coming, and right now we have a tarp on the house but that could blow off and flood her house," Nickels said.
Nickels said they plan to check on the house in the morning after Tuesday's rain.
But Collaties says what's left inside are just material things. Her family is safe, and that's all that matters.
"We're so lucky, so grateful and blessed," she said. "That last minute prayer, even though it didn't stop the tree, it still helped."
Sue Hickman and her family were sitting on the porch when a tree crashed into their home on Chickamauga Avenue. Fortunately for them, only the porch was damaged.
