LITTLE ROCK, Ark.– Strong winds plus rain falling on an already saturated ground left many Arkansans cleaning up toppled trees.
A company worked to remove a large tree that fell on Darrel Coleman’s Little Rock home during Saturday’s storms.
Coleman said, “This is McDonald’s coffee.
The 84-year-old drinks his Sunday morning coffee outside his home that a tree crashed into the day prior.
He said, “A friend brought me this because we don’t have any power at the house and we don’t have any gas in the house. It’s sort of cool in there.”
We met his wife Kay Coleman.
“But you know it’s just things that can be replaced,” Kay told us.
Darrel’s wife of 53 years tries to stomach how his one decision before heading out to pick her up from the doctors may have saved his life.
Saturated ground + ⛈ = 🌳s falling. One pic is in NLR. One pic is in LR. What cleanup do you see happening this Sunday in your neighborhood? #ARNews #ARwx pic.twitter.com/iEKVqjW4lv— Price McKeon (@PriceMcKeon) April 14, 2019
Darrel said, “And I walked down the hallway to get my jacket because it was turning cool.”
“Of course, it’s frightening but you know faith has always seen us through,” she said.
She took us inside their home to show us pictures from their wedding more than 5 decades ago.
The couple showed us the door that leads into their garage. When we opened the door we saw their car smashed with a tree on top.
They told us they’re trying not to think about what would’ve happened if he had not grabbed his coat before heading to the garage to sit in that car.
We asked Darrell why he grabbed his coat instead of jumping in the car.
He replied, “I could say fate….whatever, I’m just thankful that I’m safe.”
They’re not the only Arkansans who are thankful despite weekend storms sending trees down.
We found another large tree that fell near a home in North Little Rock.
Coleman said, “And I thank God that Darrel was not hurt.”
The Coleman Family carried the same positive attitude that resonates in the Natural State.