Three people were rescued from a Martin County mobile home on Thursday morning after a tree toppled onto the house as bands of severe weather from Hurricane Helene tore through the area.
Martin County Fire Rescue posted on Facebook at about 10 a.m. that emergency crews responded to the 400 block of Southeast Cortez Street near Stuart.
Maximiliano Valquez told WPTV’s Todd Wilson that it was a pitch black when part of a tree broke off and dropped straight down onto his family’s mobile home.
He told Wilson part of the tree crashed into his sister’s bedroom, where she was sleeping. He said it sounded like a large boom when suddenly the walls around him were falling, with drywall hitting him in the head and cutting his shoulder.
“I got hit in the head by the drywall. I got hit and I was awake but then everything was loud,” Valquez said. “I just covered my ears and I just laid there for a little.”
Neighbors who came to help said it took about 20 minutes to rescue the girl. Valquez was trapped in the living room.