A grieving family now believes they witnessed God’s plan in a tragic moment during Hurricane Helene.
When the storm passed over the home of Jerry and Marcia Savage, 78 and 74 respectively, they were huddled in their bedroom while merciless winds whipped around the Beech Island, South Carolina, property.
The couple’s grandson, John Savage, and his father also lived on the property and were sheltering in the house during Helene when they began hearing tree branches snapping under the force of the hurricane.
“We heard one snap and I remember going back there and checking on them,” John Savage told the Associated Press.
“They were both fine, the dog was fine.”
At the next snap, a tragedy unfolded.
The younger Savage and his father heard a loud “boom” following the snaps. The deafening noise turned out to be the collapse of one of the property’s largest trees, falling directly on the grandparents’ bedroom. The collapse crushed the elderly couple to death.
John Savage said “ceiling and tree” were all that could be seen in the room.
“I was just going through sheer panic at that point,” he said.
When the debris was removed, the family said what was found made them believe God’s plan was in action during the couple’s final moments.
“When they pulled them out of there, ” John Savage said, “my grandpa apparently heard the tree snap beforehand and rolled over to try and protect my grandmother.”
He said the family believes God took them together, instead of leaving one to suffer in the absence of the other.
Grandparents found hugging one another after fallen tree killed them in their South Carolina home during Hurricane Helene https://t.co/4Y2mnopWab pic.twitter.com/R0A4enh5Jj
— New York Post (@nypost) October 3, 2024
Jerry Savage is remembered as a handyman and electrician who liked to stay busy, oftentimes leaving his retirement to work out of boredom.
His wife Marcia was a retired bank teller. She was active in her church and is remembered for her cooking.
The family noted the couple’s “everlasting” and deep love for each other.
A GoFundMe drive put up by the family to lay the Savages to rest has so far raised over $6,000 of its $15,000 goal.
“Jerry and Marcia were two of the kindest and most generous people I’ve ever known,” Brittany Estep, the late couple’s granddaughter-in-law, wrote on the fundraising site.
“They are my husband’s grandparents, survived by their son Mark Savage and daughter Tammy Estep (Darrell) as well as 4 grand children and 7 great-grandchildren.”
The Savages were only two victims in a deadly path Helene cut across the American southeast. The flooding and wind wiped out several communities and cut many others off from the rest of the world.
While there have been signs of hope amid the rubble and debris, the road to recovery for these communities will be long and difficult.
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