UPDATE: Authorities have identified the woman killed when a tree fell on a Leavenworth home as 68-year-old Carolyn Hart.
Officials said Hart was outside minutes before the incident. She went inside, sat on the couch and the tree fell on her home and crushed her. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
A man was also in another part of the house at the time. He was not injured.
PREVIOUS: Investigators say soggy ground might be to blame for a tree falling onto a house and killing a 68-year-old Leavenworth, Kansas woman on Tuesday.
Crews were called to the house in the 900 block of Madison Street around 8:30 a.m. on reports that a tree had fallen onto the home.
When emergency workers arrived, the caller told them that a person was inside the house where the tree fell.
Michael St. Lawrence, who lives across the street from the home, said he ran inside to try and help the woman after witnessing the tree fall.
“The guy ran outside yelling and screaming, ‘She needs help. She’s trapped inside,’” he said. “I went inside to go help. It was already too late.”
After running inside, St. Lawrence told 41 Action News that he saw all sorts of damage to the home.
“Debris was everywhere,” he said. “Glass was everywhere. Wood was hanging down. You could see branches hanging down into the house a little bit.”
Crews worked for hours on Tuesday trying to remove the tree and its branches from the property.
Crews working on cutting this tree and its branches.
68yo woman died inside the home and house next door was also damaged. @41actionnews pic.twitter.com/TH9ci1359e
— Tom Dempsey (@KCTomDempsey) May 28, 2019
As groups of neighbors watched the work unfold, some remembered the woman who often waved and smiled at others in the area.
“She was a good person,” St. Lawrence said. “She would look out for everybody on the block. If there was loud noise, she’d call the police to make sure everybody is safe.”
“She was a real friendly lady,” added neighbor Sherry Green.
With the metro dealing with more severe weather this week, the Leavenworth Fire Department said recent rain and a saturated ground were likely to blame for the tree falling.
“We think about flash flooding and floods and things of that nature, but we have dangers just like this,” Fire Chief Gary Birch said.
As wet weather leads to dangerous conditions, neighbors hoped to help the family of the woman who died on Tuesday.
“If they need help, I’ll help them every step of the way,” St. Lawrence said.
A second home also was damaged by the fallen tree.
No other injuries were reported in the incident.
