Hurricane Helene: What we know about the death of two kids after tree falls on their bedroom in Sandersville

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ga. — Six people died in Central Georgia due to Hurricane Helene. 

In Washington County, two children died after a tree in their backyard crashed into their home, according to Washington County Sheriff Joel Cochran.

Cochran said they started getting calls about trees falling down around 4 a.m. Friday.

“The tree on the backside that fell across from the backside over on that section of the house, which was the bedroom,” Cochran said.

The bedroom was on the right side of a house off South Hospital Road, and two children were inside.

“That tree falling on the bedroom was the cause of death of the two children,” Cochran said.

The four-year-old boy and seven-year-old girl died Friday morning after Helene passed through as a category one hurricane. Cochran said just getting into the home was a long process.

“Responders had been there for some time … It took several hours to remove the tree. It was a big tree – to get it removed off the house to be able to get in and do the extrication,” Cochran said.

The news devastated neighbors and friends of the family, including Cochran.

“It’s a family that I’m very well acquainted with and it was a very sad and emotional moment for myself,” Cochran said. “When you know the people that’s involved, it tugs on your heart a lot harder.”

The sheriff said his office has received several calls about trees crashing down, but they had a difficult time getting to them.

“We had a lot of delay in response times,” Cochran said. “There’s been certain low-priority calls we haven’t been able to get to but once it got safe for our people to get on the roads we put them out there they’ve been out there.”

He explained the response teams needed to wait until daylight to get boots on the ground and help clear out messes all over the county.

Cochran also said it might be a few days before some people in the rural areas can get access to the internet.