Strong storm topples tree into bedroom, narrowly missing woman inside

CHURCHTON, Md. — A woman is counting her blessings after strong storms toppled a tree right onto the bedroom she'd been staying in.

“I’m damn lucky. I really am," Linda Trader said. “Thank you, Lrd, you gave me another day."

Trader was staying with friends, Diana and John, on Ellicott Street where she used to live on in Churchton. The trio stayed up late Thursday night just in time for the winds to begin howling as strong storms passed through the area.

"It was midnight. I said if we don’t go to bed now, we’re going to turn into pumpkins," Trader said.

But that might have saved Trader’s life.

“Next thing we know the storm start[ed] picking up, really, really strong. And next thing we hear this, ’Boom’ pero, bad, really bad," homeowner Diana Lee recalled.

A tree from the next-door neighbor’s property came careening down on top of the guest room, where Trader and her two pups. Pollyanna and Pebbles, were all staying.

Trader was making a quick stop to the restroom when the tree snapped in half, bringing down wires, glass and drywall with it.

“They said if I had been in the bed, it would have killed me. ‘Cause everything would have fallen on my chest," Trader said.

WMAR-2 News

But Trader was trapped inside, and Pollyanna nowhere to be found.

“I couldn’t even go in the bedroom because all the things from the roof, the ceiling, the roof have fall[en] down. Water was just pouring down," Lee said.

Trader says she was able to call 911, but initially was put on hold. Within 15-20 minutes, emergency crews from Calvert County came by and were able to rescue them both.

While everyone got out okay, not everything did. John’s favorite car, according to wife Diana, an original 1967 Camaro he bought himself, didn’t make it.

“That was his first car when he returned from the Air Force," Diana explained.

Homeowners tell WMAR-2 News, several storms in the area this summer have been worse than in years past. Lee and her husband also say they had expressed concerns about the tree’s health too to their neighbor before the storm.

They’re now working with insurance to find temporary housing.

And Trader? She's taking it one day at a time, and sending prayers, while holding Pollyanna and Pebbles tight while she figures out where to go too.