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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Final Destination
DALLAS, NC ? A combination of bad weather and horrible timing proved fatal for a Stanley woman when a falling tree crushed her moving vehicle Monday.
Officials don?t believe 72-year-old Doris Flowers Rowland ever saw the tree coming down in Monday?s extremely high winds before it smashed her 2002 Cadillac sedan about 1:49 p.m., killing her instantly.
?A third of a second was the difference between living and dying,? said N.C. Highway Patrol. Sgt. J.A. Brodhage.
The incident happened on Lower Dallas Highway near the intersection with Yates Avenue. Rowland, of 108 Lake Road, was driving west on the highway and entering Dallas at the time.
The tree was not dead, Brodhage said. It was one of many that are growing there on the south side of the highway, on a sloped, eroding bank that was still visibly wet after the accident. Heavy rain throughout Sunday, combined with forceful gusts of wind Monday, caused the tree to fall, Brodhage said.
The tree was apparently growing from within the state?s right of way, which extends 50 feet out from the highway?s center line, he said.
The Charlotte and Gastonia areas received up to 2? inches of rainfall Sunday, and wind gusts Monday reached 44 mph in some places, according to the National Weather Service.
The tree hit the Cadillac lengthwise, striking the hood first before collapsing the windshield and roof. The tree rolled away and settled in a ditch as the Cadillac continued on at 25 to 30 mph, striking a utility pole at Yates Avenue. It then rolled back a few yards and came to a stop.
A second, smaller tree also fell across the highway, but did not hit the vehicle, investigators said. Traffic on Lower Dallas Highway was rerouted in both directions for about two hours until the wreckage could be cleared.
The force of the tree?s impact was so severe that the vehicle?s collapsing undercarriage made gouge marks in the highway asphalt, Brodhage said. There were no brake marks on the road.
?She didn?t even see the tree coming,? he said.
Rowland suffered severe head injuries. Had the timing of the falling tree and the approaching vehicle varied by a fraction of a second, she may have lived, Brodhage said.
Jeannette Horn owns the home that sits along the highway there, but said the tree was not on her side of the property line. She heard the crash from inside Monday.
?I heard the tree pop, then I heard the boom of it hitting the car,? she said from her front yard.
Horn sprinted outside and saw the Cadillac as it rolled into the utility pole. She was one of several witnesses who ran to help the woman, but they were unable to get a pulse, she said. After rescue workers arrived within minutes, it took more than an hour to extract Rowland from the car.
Wendy McDonald, another nearby Yates Drive resident, said she can recall five to six trees falling from that same bank in the last five years.
?Any time the wind gets like this, they?ll fall,? she said. ?This is the first time one has hit a car.?
Highway Patrol Trooper D.L. Litaker said the N.C. Department of Transportation will be notified of the incident for safety reasons. But he described Monday?s event as a freak accident.
?When the ground?s wet and the wind?s blowing, trees are coming down,? he said. ?It?s happening all over the state.?
Horn said the incident was tragic.
?It?s amazing how God can take you like that,? she said, ?in a split second.?
You can reach Michael Barrett at 704-869-1826.
Officials don?t believe 72-year-old Doris Flowers Rowland ever saw the tree coming down in Monday?s extremely high winds before it smashed her 2002 Cadillac sedan about 1:49 p.m., killing her instantly.
?A third of a second was the difference between living and dying,? said N.C. Highway Patrol. Sgt. J.A. Brodhage.
The incident happened on Lower Dallas Highway near the intersection with Yates Avenue. Rowland, of 108 Lake Road, was driving west on the highway and entering Dallas at the time.
The tree was not dead, Brodhage said. It was one of many that are growing there on the south side of the highway, on a sloped, eroding bank that was still visibly wet after the accident. Heavy rain throughout Sunday, combined with forceful gusts of wind Monday, caused the tree to fall, Brodhage said.
The tree was apparently growing from within the state?s right of way, which extends 50 feet out from the highway?s center line, he said.
The Charlotte and Gastonia areas received up to 2? inches of rainfall Sunday, and wind gusts Monday reached 44 mph in some places, according to the National Weather Service.
The tree hit the Cadillac lengthwise, striking the hood first before collapsing the windshield and roof. The tree rolled away and settled in a ditch as the Cadillac continued on at 25 to 30 mph, striking a utility pole at Yates Avenue. It then rolled back a few yards and came to a stop.
A second, smaller tree also fell across the highway, but did not hit the vehicle, investigators said. Traffic on Lower Dallas Highway was rerouted in both directions for about two hours until the wreckage could be cleared.
The force of the tree?s impact was so severe that the vehicle?s collapsing undercarriage made gouge marks in the highway asphalt, Brodhage said. There were no brake marks on the road.
?She didn?t even see the tree coming,? he said.
Rowland suffered severe head injuries. Had the timing of the falling tree and the approaching vehicle varied by a fraction of a second, she may have lived, Brodhage said.
Jeannette Horn owns the home that sits along the highway there, but said the tree was not on her side of the property line. She heard the crash from inside Monday.
?I heard the tree pop, then I heard the boom of it hitting the car,? she said from her front yard.
Horn sprinted outside and saw the Cadillac as it rolled into the utility pole. She was one of several witnesses who ran to help the woman, but they were unable to get a pulse, she said. After rescue workers arrived within minutes, it took more than an hour to extract Rowland from the car.
Wendy McDonald, another nearby Yates Drive resident, said she can recall five to six trees falling from that same bank in the last five years.
?Any time the wind gets like this, they?ll fall,? she said. ?This is the first time one has hit a car.?
Highway Patrol Trooper D.L. Litaker said the N.C. Department of Transportation will be notified of the incident for safety reasons. But he described Monday?s event as a freak accident.
?When the ground?s wet and the wind?s blowing, trees are coming down,? he said. ?It?s happening all over the state.?
Horn said the incident was tragic.
?It?s amazing how God can take you like that,? she said, ?in a split second.?
You can reach Michael Barrett at 704-869-1826.