Harris home: a total loss
Shortly after Hurricane Matthew hit the Harris home in Darlington
By Jana E. Pye, Editor, editor@newsandpress.net
When Hurricane Matthew hit Darlington County, one family that lived near Williamson Park in Darlington had a “total loss” by trees striking their home rendering it completely unlivable, and taking out both vehicles.
“When the hurricane started, my husband Mike was sick with a high fever,” recalls Jeannie Harris of Darlington “I was in a back bedroom with all the animals our pets four birds, three dogs, and two cats. And one beta fish.”
When the storm got worse, she contemplated moving to the other side of the home when two large trees fell within 15 feet from where she was on the bed.
“I looked out the window and saw the first one, and the next one fell right after,” recalls Harris. “When they fell it was such a jolt it lifted me and the animals off the bed like a trampoline.”
View from the Harris’ kitchen.
The roof over the kitchen and the living room was completely destroyed. “We had a tree in the kitchen, in the living room,” said Harris. “When FEMA, the Chief of Police and the Fire Chief came around, they all said that of all the damage they’d seen in the city limits we were the worst. There were seven rooms involved out of an 11 room house.”
The couple stayed in the house at first; they later found out that tree limbs were in the attic above the room they stayed in. “If it had rained again, we would’ve been in trouble.”
The couple also lost both of their vehicles.
They had lived there over 20 years, and had many gardens; in fact, they had just finished landscaping the back yard before the storm.
Four tree removal companies refused to touch it because of the weight of the large trees. The one that ended up doing the work was from Spartanburg, Tree Dimensions. “They brought a drone to fly over to get a look at the damage before they began. The guy said, I will tell you this will be in my top five – I’ll tell you when I am finished where you are in my top five. They brought in a 20-ton crane to get the trees off the house and out of the house. When he got through, he said it was number one. He said it was the trickiest, most dangerous that he had ever done- and he’d been in business over 30 years.”
Three crane companies refused to come; they had to rent one, and the owner’s son manned the crane.
Over half of the contents were lost, including heirlooms that Jeannie had just inherited from her late mother. “My mother just passed away at the end of the summer,” said Jeannie. “Some items that were not damaged had to be left behind simply because we didn’t have place to store it.”
The Harris’ are not sure if they will rebuild on the lot.