Topeka home split in half by tree after Tuesday storms

TOPEKA (KSNT) – Residents are still recovering from the storms that devastated communities across Northeast Kansas on Tuesday, April 30.

One family in Topeka lost their house, which is now split in half after a tree fell on top of it.

Brittany Boothe, the homeowner told 27 News that they were getting ready to leave the house to take shelter when they heard a sound and the tree came down. The tree just missed their son by a few inches.

The owner let us inside the home to better examine the damage. Their daughter’s bed was just below where the tree struck down.

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“I’m still trying to gather my thoughts honestly,” Demi Boothe, Brittany’s family member said. “It’s just quite a bit to go through and almost watch your baby brother get hit by a tree. I wouldn’t have left that trailer without him. I would’ve stayed right there by his side and I wouldn’t have left. That’s the one person… I’d do anything for them kids. That was my thought process was make sure he got safe and then once we got safe it was panic.”

The family is still struggling to determine their next steps, but Brittany wants to share an important message.

“It’s ours. It’s our home,” Brittany said. It’s not much to some people, but it’s ours, better examine and now it’s gone,” Boothe told us. “Pay attention to the warnings and get out when you hear them cause we were almost too late.”

KSNT 27 News was on the scene Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning to see fallen tree branches and debris scattered throughout the mobile home park.

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