A North Carolina community came together this week to grieve the loss of one of Hurricane Florence’s youngest victims. Three-month-old Kade Gill was tragically killed when the fierce storm swept through Gaston County, causing a pine tree to crash through his family’s mobile home, Fox News reported.
‘It Hits Home’: Michael Jordan Donates $2 Million to Hurricane Florence Relief in North Carolina
The horrific incident occurred Sunday at 12:45 p.m., the Gaston Gazette reported. The large tree split the family’s home down its center, Police Capt. Jon Leatherwood told Fox. According to Leatherwood, the boy’s parents were home but not hurt.
“I brought the dog out and I heard something snap,” neighbor Billy Hawkins, who was outside when the tree fell, told the Gazette. “Then the daddy came out hollering, ‘Call 911, Call 911.”
Hawkins ran with the father, Olen Gill, to the family’s home, where he found mother Tammy Gill holding her baby boy in her arms.
“She was just yelling, ‘Get my kid, get my kid,’” Hawkins said.
Emergency responders transported the infant to the hospital, where he died of his injuries. Gill was the seventeenth person killed during Hurricane Florence.
On Tuesday, neighbors and loved ones gathered to pray light and candles in honor of baby Kade.
3-month-old Kade Gill was killed when Florence hit Gaston County days ago. A tree came crashing through the family's mobile home. Members of the community gathered for prayer and to pay respects.
Posted by Spectrum News North Carolina on Tuesday, September 18, 2018
As of Wednesday, the death toll for Hurricane Florence had risen to at least 37, the Associated Press reported. President Donald Trump traveled to the stricken coastal town of New Bern, North Carolina, on Wednesday to help hand out food at a local church.
“How’s the house?” Trump asked one resident. “You take care of yourself.”
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has urged thousands of evacuees not to return until they are given a formal go-ahead.
“I know it was hard to leave home, and it is even harder to wait and wonder whether you even have a home to go back to,” Gov. Cooper said, adding, “I know for many people this feels like a nightmare that just won’t end.”
But the governor stressed safety above all else, warning that flooding will continue, getting worse in some areas. Right now, roughly 10,000 North Carolinians remain in shelters and “countless more” have relocated elsewhere, according to the AP.
Please continue to pray for all those affected by Hurricane Florence, especially the parents and loved ones of little Kade Gill.