Fallen tree narrowly misses 10-year-old girl in SW Portland home during Saturday winds

By Karli Olson

Click here for updates on this story

    PORTLAND, Oregon (KPTV) — A falling tree during the wind and snow storm on Saturday left a roof damaged, but a young girl and her friend were kept safe.

It was an average play date for 10-year-old Harlow Brown and her friend Lucy Tarabocchia, as they played in Harlow’s second-story bedroom in her home on SW Ellman Lane.

As they watched the trees ‘wiggle’ in the wind, the girls told FOX 12, Lucy suggested they play ‘safe space’, and create a place they could go to escape falling trees.

Lucy had decided to go downstairs for just a moment, leaving Harlow alone in their ‘safe space’ in the closet when the tree fell through.

“I thought the whole house was going to go crashing down and I was screaming,” Harlow said. “Then the pink stuffing came flying everywhere and I didn’t know what was happening.”

“It felt like an earthquake in a house,” Lucy added.

Harlow’s 14-year-old sister Finley was in the next room over, and she said she wasn’t able to open her bedroom door when the tree fell.

“My ceiling was cracking open, so I was scared about the animals and my sister,” she said.

Harlow’s Mom, Tonia Berberich, said the tree fell several feet away from where Harlow was hiding in the closet.

“Had they been out in her room sitting on the bed or on the floor in her room, it would’ve been really devastating. Luckily they were completely unharmed,” Berberich said.

On Tuesday, the tree was still stuck in the roof of their home, with piles of insulation and broken glass all over Harlow’s room and down the staircase.

The family believes the damage will keep them out of their home for at least a year.

“I’m really sad because I loved my house a lot, and if we’re sleeping at a hotel, I would be sad because I would want to be in my home,” Harlow said.

Tonia said that knowing her family is safe makes the cost of repairs feel small.

“The house can be fixed, stuff can be replaced, I have my family and my kids are safe so that’s all that really matters,” she said. “I truly believe they had a guardian angel looking after them, keeping them safe that day.”

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.