As of Tuesday, more than 230 people have lost their lives across six states due to Hurricane Helene, with hundreds still missing. Among the deceased are five-week-old twin boys, Khyzier and Khazmir Williams, believed to be the youngest victims of the devastating storm. The twins tragically died alongside their mother, Kobe Williams, when a tree crashed through their mobile home in Thomson, Georgia.
“Nobody was taking the storm seriously,” said Mary Jones, Kobe’s mother and the twins’ grandmother, in an interview with Today.com. “Then it started, and the wind was so loud. When the lights went out, Kobe got really scared. She was worried about the babies.”
Throughout the night, Jones and her daughter stayed awake, listening to the hurricane wreak havoc outside. Around 5:15 a.m., Jones fed Khyzier so Williams could try to rest, but Kobe remained too frightened to sleep.
Jones eventually fell asleep, but less than an hour later, she awoke to a strange “shushing” sound, followed by an unsettling silence. Sensing something was wrong, she went to check and found that a tree had crashed through her daughter’s bedroom.
“I started screaming, ‘Kobe! Answer me! Please answer me!’ It was so dark, and all I could see were branches,” Jones recounted.
Neighbors rushed over to help, but the debris was too thick to reach Williams and her boys. When police arrived, they confirmed the worst.
“I asked if they were alive, and an officer said, ‘It’s bad. Don’t go in there,’” Jones recalled. “And I just lost it. I lost it.”
Markeya Jones, Kobe’s niece, shared that her aunt had been holding the twins in her arms when the tree fell, trying to shield them from harm.
Hurricane Helene has become the deadliest storm to strike the mainland U.S. since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. As communities across the southeast continue to recover, many are bracing for what could be another record-breaking storm, with Hurricane Milton now heading toward the Tampa Bay area.
The devastation caused by Hurricane Helene is immeasurable, leaving families and lives shattered in a matter of moments. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected.
