Tree falls kill Alabama, Maine children

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Two babies were killed when a huge tree crashed into a home during a storm with wind gusts near 50 mph in Alabama, and officials said a third child was killed by a falling tree in Maine.

Jalaia Ford, 3 months old, and Journee Jones, 11 months old, were taken to a hospital in Birmingham after the tree struck the home Thursday, the Jefferson County coroner’s office said.

At least three other people were injured, including an 11-year-old, and rescuers had a tough time getting everyone out because of the extent of the damage, said Sebastian Carrillo, a battalion chief with Birmingham Fire and Rescue.

“Because the structure is so unstable, every time we move a foot the structure underneath is shifting. So we’re having to stabilize the structure as we move in, and it’s just really time-consuming,” Carrillo said.

In Maine, a 9-year-old girl died when thunderstorms that swept across the state caused a tree to fall on a car, officials said. Crews had difficulty reaching the Sebago Lake Family Campground in Standish on Thursday because of storm debris and then had to clear away the tree and limbs to reach the girl, the Cumberland County sheriff’s office said.

Sheriff Kevin Joyce said the girl’s family was preparing to leave the campground because of the bad weather when the tree fell.

More than 10,000 homes and businesses in Alabama remained without power Friday, more than 15 hours after the storms hit. Scattered wind damage from storms was reported up the Eastern Seaboard as far north as Vermont and New Hampshire along the Canadian border, according to the Storm Prediction Center.