HELEN — A fast-arriving thunderstorm injured a 4-year-old girl in Helen just before noon.
According to Helen Police Chief Brian Stephens, Helen emergency personnel were dispatched to injured tubers in the Chattahoochee River near the Festhalle at 11:49 a.m.
A tree limb broke and fell, striking the 4-year-old girl in the head, Stephens said.
“The paramedics on scene said it might have taken two stitches,” he said.
The parents declined ambulance transport saying they would take the injured girl for care, Stephens said.
No other injuries were reported.
“Another tree fell up on Unicoi Hill [Park] on White Street and struck two vehicles,” Stephens said.
Those vehicles were unoccupied at the time and there were no injuries.
The incident could have been much worse had the storm struck on a busy weekend afternoon rather than a Thursday morning, Stephens said.
“That storm came up out of nowhere,” he said.
