Woman's agony as her 11-year-old son dies, as Hurricane Irene sends tree smashing through his bedroom killing him on the spot
Woman's agony as her 11-year-old son dies, as Hurricane Irene sends tree smashing through his bedroom killing him on the spot
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Neighbours said that Zahir Robinson's mother came running out screaming, 'My baby, my baby boy', after a tree split in half and fell on their two-storey apartment building in Newport News.
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| Hurricane Irene has left several homeless in its wake including Billy Stinson who tries to collect his thoughts after his 1903 home is completely devastated in North Carolina. According to reports, the damages will still be felt for days to come and repairs after the storm will cost the country $27 billion.u00a0Trains remain idle at the Trenton Transit Center due to water on the tracks from Hurricane Irene |
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Rescue teams worked frantically to remove the tree, which crashed into the boy's bedroom, but he was pronounced dead later in the day.
Taijan Curtis, au00a0 neighbour said she and her family were sitting at home next door when they heard the thud of the tree coming down and then the woman screaming.
Fellow neighbour John Peden said he kicked down the door of the house so that the woman was able to get out. He said that she was screaming, 'My baby, my baby'.
Another person said that a woman came out of the home shouting, 'Where's my baby boy?' Police said that they received a call reporting that a tree had fallen on the house.
More than 16 firefighters worked at the scene to saw off branches and remove the tree.
They had to wait around 40 minutes before starting the removal because electric wires had collapsed on the home.
Eventually the boy's body was removed from the apartment after a crane was used to remove the tree. The boy's mother was unharmed.
Damages
Meanwhile, Hurricane Irene has killed 25 people and left a ufffd27billion trail of destruction in its wake but there was relief in New York as the city escaped the worst of the storm.
Across the country whole neighbourhoods lay submerged underwater and millions were without power after the storm ripped up houses, destroyed roads and caused flooding
Deluge of births
As Hurricane Irene lashed the US east coast, it brought a deluge of another sort to a North Carolina hospitalu00a0 an unusually high number of newborn babies. Seventeen babies were born at the New Hanover Regional Medical Center during an 18-hour stretch when the hospital was on lockdown during the storm, spokeswoman Carolyn Fisher said.
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