LANCASTER TOWNSHIP, Pa. --
A mother and her two children were trapped for more than an hour Friday afternoon in Lancaster Township after a tree and live power lines fell on their SUV.
It happened on Marietta Avenue near Wilson Drive.
"We were driving along. The wind was blowing, the car was bucking a little bit. I saw the tree and I thought, 'Wow that really is blowing.' And then I realized the tree was actually coming towards the road. And I slammed on the brakes and I was unable to avoid what happened next," said Elizabeth Owens.
The tree crashed down onto Owens' Ford Expedition. It also brought down live power lines onto the vehicle. Owens did the right thing and stayed inside the vehicle with her 9 and 10-year-old children.
"I work at (Lancaster General Hospital) and I know enough fire and EMS -- and you know to stay in the car. Don't open any doors or windows. Stay in the car," Owens said.
Owens said she checked her children and asked if they had any pain. She said they were OK.
"God took care of us," Owens said. "The windshield was intact, you know there wasn't glass anywhere. We were safe in the car."
While the firefighters stood by, and crews worked to shut of power to the lines, Owens tried to keep her kids calm.
"I just went and sat in the back seat with the children and we just started playing with the phone, kind of looking on the Internet, calming everyone down," Owens said.
Once power was cut, firefighters checked the Owens family. Everyone was OK. Owens was even able to drive her SUV home.
Safety experts say that if a power line falls on your car, you should stay in your car.
All downed lines should be treated as if they are live and all downed lines should be treated as if they are power lines, according to PPL. To the non-professional, it's hard to tell the difference between telephone lines, TV cables and power lines.
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