Grandparents found hugging one another after fallen tree killed them in their South Carolina home during Hurricane Helene
An elderly South Carolina couple killed when a tree fell on their bedroom during Hurricane Helene were found in a protective, loving hug, according to their grandson.
Jerry Savage, 78, and wife Marcia, 74, were lying in bed in their Beech Island home when a tree fell directly on their bedroom with a large “boom,” according to their 22-year-old grandson John.
“All you could see was ceiling and tree,” said John, who had checked on his grandparents moments earlier after hearing an ominous snapping sound.
“I was just going through sheer panic at that point.”
When first responders arrived they found the couple — childhood sweethearts who had been married 50 years — hugging in bed, their grandson said.
“My grandpa apparently heard the tree snap beforehand and rolled over to try and protect my grandmother,” he said, saying the family believes it was God’s plan to take them together rather than leaving one alone.
“They loved each other to their dying day.”
While recent storms have hit their community and knocked over other trees in the yard, the family “had not had anything like that happen” before, John said of one of the deadliest storms in US history.
The dead couple’s granddaughter Katherine Savage, 27, said her grandparents — especially retired bank teller Marcia — always helped with her three sons and would see the boys nearly every day.
“I haven’t even told my boys yet because we don’t know how,” she said.
Helene's path of destruction
- Helene slammed into Florida’s Big Bend coastline Thursday night as a Category 4 hurricane, pounding the state with 155-mph gusts and killing at least 13.
- Helene moved northeast into Georgia, where it was downgraded to a tropical storm by Friday morning, but winds and floods left 25 dead in the state.
- By Friday afternoon, Helene had moved over parts of Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, where at least 29 died.
- Relentless rain drenched Appalachia Friday night, sending floodwaters and mudslides crashing through mountain towns.
- In North Carolina, at least 35 people died in the Asheville area, and a tornado injured 15 in Rocky Mount.
- Over the weekend, rescuers struggled to clear roads and recover bodies. The death toll is 192 and counting.
Jerry was a handyman who worked as an electrician and carpenter while going “in and out of retirement because he got bored,” his grandson said. Marcia was a retired bank teller and an active member of their church, particularly the church’s choir, her granddaughter Katherine Savage, 27, said.
The dead couple’s 54-year-old daughter Tammy Estep described her father as a “doer” and the hardest worker she knew.
The Savages are just two of the 200 confirmed dead in one of the deadliest storms in US history.
With Post wires
