ALEXANDER COUNTY, N.C. — An Alexander County, North Carolina mother had only seconds to spare as she grabbed her sleeping child and ran for cover during Monday evening's severe thunderstorms. Moments later, a tree came crashing down on their house causing a partial roof collapse and window glass to shatter across the home.
"I heard one limb fall so I grabbed my son out of his crib," she told NBC Charlotte. "As soon as I picked him up, the windows shattered, the dining room ceiling fell in, and I knew that something was wrong."
Radar estimates winds near 70 mph at the time. Winds that strong would be nearly equivalent to a category one hurricane.
A line of severe thunderstorms was moving west to east from the mountains, through the foothills, and into the Charlotte Piedmont region Monday evening.
The trees that fell in Alexander County, were among numerous trees that fell during storms across the greater Charlotte region Monday.