WILMINGTON, N.C. – A Wilmington homeowner says he is grateful to be alive after a tree with a root ball measuring well over six feet long fell early Friday morning.

Harris Hasket says his parents planted the tree back in 1935. Not only is he heartbroken about the tree, but that it tilted over on three of his cars.

Hasket says he heard it make a loud noise Friday morning around 6:15 a.m.

“It was so loud, it went 'crack!'” he said. “You could hear it. Everybody heard it.”

The disaster isn’t leaving Hasket in a bad mood. He is still smiling.

“Got a smile on my face because God is good and my house didn’t get hit. I’m still alive and I got my friends here,” he said.

 

His friend, Craig Williams, who was standing beside him, described the tree and its roots. 

"I can't even call a word for it. It's mammothic," Williams said.

Like many others impacted by then Hurricane Florence, Hasket is hoping for local and federal government assistance to help with recovery.

“They say Washington is going to give us some money. We’ll find out,” he said.

President Trump is expected to visit devastated parts of North Carolina this week.

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