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Thunderstorm drops trees in crowded Helen river, damages vehicles

Posted 4:39PM on Thursday 18th July 2019 ( 4 years ago )

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.

A pink tube remains underneath one of the trees that fell into the crowded Chattahoochee River near Edelweiss Strasse and the Festhalle in Helen.
Another tree falls from the Biergarten at the Festhalle into the Chattahoochee River as storm cleanup continues.
Helen police officers block the bridge on Edelweiss Strasse near the Festhalle while crews clear downed trees from the river.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2019/7/815134/thunderstorm-drops-trees-in-crowded-helen-river-damages-vehicles

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