Mom and Newborn Twins Died in Helene, Didn’t Think They Could Evacuate

A Georgia mother and her newborn twin boys were killed after a large tree fell on their trailer home in during Hurricane Helene. 

“I’d seen pictures when they were born and pictures every day since, but I hadn’t made it out there yet to meet them,” Obie Williams told the Associated Press of his daughter Kobe, 27, and her two infant boys, Khyzier and Khazmir. “Now I’ll never get to meet my grandsons. It’s devastating,” 

Born just over a month ago on Aug. 20, Khyzier and Khazmir are the youngest known victims of the devastating hurricane, which is responsible for at least 220 deaths across six states, the AP reported. 

Williams told the AP that his daughter, a single mom, didn’t think she would be able to evacuate with her newborns. When she called him last week, fearing for her safety, he advised that they shelter in the bathroom of their trailer home in Thomson until the storm subsided. 

But then Kobe stopped responding to her family’s phone calls. One of her brothers later checked in on the trailer home and discovered that a tree had fallen through the roof, crushing Kobe and the boys, her father told the news agency.

“That was my baby,” he added of Kobe. “And everybody loved her.”

PEOPLE reached out to the Thomson Police Department on Friday, Oct. 4, for additional information about the incident. 

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In addition to the young twins, Helene also claimed other young lives including Harmony and Derrick Taylor, 7 and 4 respectively, who died when a tree fellthrough their Georgia home.

Luna Jade Gaddis, a 4-year-old girl, was also killed in North Carolina after her family’s car collided with another vehicle during heavy rain, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol told NBC News and The Charlotte Observer.

Meanwhile, USA Today’s outage tracker reported about 757,000 homes and businesses still remain without power since the storm as of Oct. 4.

To learn more about how to help with relief, recovery and rebuilding efforts from Hurricane Helene, click here.