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A Georgia mother and five-week-old twins were killed in the devastation of Hurricane Helene.
According to TODAY, 27-year-old Kobe Williams and her sons, Khyzier and Khazmir, died on September 27 after a tree crashed through their mobile home in Thomson, Georgia. The five-week-old twins are the youngest known victims of Hurricane Helene.
Williams' mother, Mary Jones, said she was in the home when her daughter and grandsons were killed.
“Nobody was taking the storm seriously,” Jones, 56, told TODAY. “Then it started, and the wind was so loud. When the lights went off, Kobe got really scared. She was worried about the babies.”
Jones said she and Williams stayed up that night talking and listening to the sound of branches cracking and falling. The grandmother recalled feeding Khyzier at around 5:15 a.m. so Willaims could get some rest.
“She couldn’t sleep because she was afraid,” Jones said.
Jones was awakened less than an hour later by a "strange shushing sound" followed by an eerie silence. That's when the grandmother found a massive tree had crashed through Williams' bedroom.
“I started screaming, ‘Kobe! Answer me! Please answer me!’ It was so dark and I couldn’t see anything except branches,” Jones said.
Upon arrival, police confirmed that the five-week-old babies had died with their mom.
“I asked, are they alive? And (one officer) said, ‘It’s bad, don’t go in there,” Jones said. “And I just lost it. I lost it.”
“She was holding the babies in her arms when the tree fell on her head. She was trying to protect them," Jones’ granddaughter, Markeya Jones, added.
The mother and her twins are among more than 220 people who have died as a result of Hurricane Helene.
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