Trapped in neighborhood, Florida residents work together to remove fallen tree

Neighbors on one Seminole County street banded together to clear the way after a massive tree fell during Hurricane Ian, and completely blocked their street. They said they were trapped with no way out.

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. - Neighbors on one Seminole County street banded together to clear the way after a massive tree fell during Hurricane Ian, and completely blocked their street. They said they were trapped with no way out.

"He just heard a shake and went and peaked out and seen it down," Ken Harrelson, who owns a home on the street, said.

Harrelson said when his son looked out his window, he found a massive oak tree laying in the middle of the street on Oak Haven Drive in Altamonte Springs. Ian’s wrath put it there. It knocked out power and water to the homes nearby, and it’s so big it blocked traffic from going in or out.

"We couldn’t get out. None of the homes this way could get out," Deena Lloyd, who lives on the street, said. She said people in about eight other homes also couldn’t get out. "Another neighbor at the end, she’s an ER nurse and had to be to work Friday morning. She had no way of getting out of the street," Lloyd said.

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People on the street took matters into their own hands. They got chainsaws and cut the tree into pieces to move it to the side of the road. "We all just kind of got together and took care of it and made a path, so we could get off the street again," Lloyd said.

That was on Saturday. Most of the street got power soon after that, except for one home that still has the tree in its yard.

"It’s just unbelievable when you look at it," Harrelson said.

"I feel bad for them. To get out of their yard, they have to drive over their septic tank and any human being could tell you don’t do that," Lloyd said.

The tree is Seminole County property, so neighbors are waiting for county crews to clear it out. They said crews are expected to clear it Tuesday.