October 3rd 2024.
Last week, Obie Williams received his daughter's daily phone call while Hurricane Helene was tearing through her small town in rural Georgia. He could hear the sound of babies crying and the strong wind battering the windows in the background. His daughter, Kobe Williams, who is 27 years old and a new mother to twin boys, was hunkering down in their trailer home in Thomson, Georgia. As the storm grew more intense, she began to fear for her and her babies' safety.
Despite the chaotic situation, Kobe promised her father that she would follow his advice to seek shelter in the bathroom with her one-month-old babies until the storm passed. However, minutes later, she stopped answering her family's calls. One of her brothers, determined to check on her, braved the fallen trees and downed power lines to reach her later that day. He returned with devastating news for their father.
A large tree had crashed through the roof of their home, crushing Kobe and causing her to fall on top of her infant sons, Khyzier and Khazmir. All three of them were found dead. Obie Williams, speaking to The Associated Press a few days after the storm, expressed his grief and heartbreak. He had seen pictures of his grandsons since they were born on August 20, but had not had the chance to meet them in person. Now, he never would.
The twins, born just a month ago, were the youngest victims of the hurricane that had already claimed 200 lives in several states. Among the other young victims were a seven-year-old girl and a four-year-old boy from a town about 80 kilometers away from Thomson. In Obie Williams' hometown of Augusta, located about 48 kilometers east of Thomson, the aftermath of the storm was evident. Power lines were down, tree branches blocked roads, and utility poles were damaged.
Obie himself was trapped in his neighborhood near the South Carolina border for over a day due to the debris. His daughter, a single mother who was still nursing her newborns, had told her family that it was impossible for her to evacuate with such young babies. Currently, many of Obie's 14 other children are still without power in their homes across Georgia. Some have sought refuge in Atlanta, while others have traveled to Augusta to be with their father and mourn together.
However, the family is faced with the difficult task of arranging a funeral for Kobe and her sons. They are waiting for the bodies to be released by the county coroner and for the roads to be cleared. Obie Williams described his daughter as a lovable, social, and strong young woman. She always had a smile on her face and loved to make people laugh. She was studying to become a nursing assistant but had taken a break from school to give birth to her sons. To Obie, she will always be his baby, and he knows that she was loved by everyone who knew her.
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