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Cameron Park Family Thankful Tree Knocked Over By Tornado Missed Their Car

EL DORADO COUNTY (CBS13) — El Dorado County residents spent Christmas cleaning up a day after a tornado toppled a large tree that narrowly missed a mom in her car.

The parents at the Cameron Park home are hailing their children as heroes for saving them from a gigantic tree that fell behind their car as Mom was backing out.

The kids were in the garage with dad, saw they wind howl and when they heard the tree snap, they yelled, "Stop." The tree hit the back of the car, but missed Michelle Chapman.

"It was just scary," she said. "All of a sudden, I heard a big crash and looked behind me, and there's a tree in my back window."

"It was really scary," Ken Chapman said, "because my wife was in the car and she kind of stayed there—thought she'd be safer in the car."

The full cleanup along the eight-mile path of destruction through Folsom and Cameron Park won't be underway until after the holidays when they can get some heavy machinery to help with the debris.

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