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Jerry and Marcia Savage were killed after a tree crashed into their home

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Jerry and Marcia Savage were killed after a tree crashed into their home

Under the cover of night on September 27, strong winds and heavy rain woke Jerry and Marcia Savage from their sleep in their one-story home on Beech Island.

It also shook her 22-year-old grandson in the living room where he was guarding the home in inland South Carolina where the couple had lived since 1975.

The storm was approaching.

Around 4 a.m., he ran to his grandparents' room, where they were in bed with their small dog, to check on them, the couple's daughter, Tammy Estep of Aiken County, told USA TODAY. They were shaken but alive.

No one knew that about an hour after they reportedly fell back asleep, a tree would crash through the roof of their home, killing the seniors in bed.

“My father lay on top of my mother and hugged her to protect her,” Estep, 54, said Thursday. “The coroner had to take them apart.”

The couple, whose North Augusta home is not far from the Georgia state line, are among the dead after Hurricane Helene ripped through the southeastern United States last week, leaving death, destruction and chaos in its wake.

The number of confirmed deaths in the region surpassed the 200 threshold as North Carolina officials said Thursday the state's toll rose to 97, according to a USA TODAY Network analysis. Additionally, South Carolina has reported 41 deaths, Georgia 33, Florida 19, Tennessee 11 and Virginia two for a total of 203.

Heartbreak in 6 States: Here are some who lost their lives in Hurricane Helene

“The biggest bang of your life”

On the morning of the storm, Estep said she was at home with her husband about eight miles north in the Clearwater neighborhood of North Augusta.

“A tree fell in front of our house, but it blocked us so we couldn't get there right away,” Estep remembers.

They reached the south around 9:30 a.m.

“They were all in the house sleeping – woke up around 4 a.m. and around 5:20 a.m. they heard the biggest bang of their lives,” Estep said. “Then the tree fell.”

Their nephew John Savage said he couldn't get from the living room to the bedroom to check on them again. The door was blocked.

He wouldn't know of her death until first responders arrived.

Firefighters arrived around 11:40 a.m., Estep recalled, and a coroner's office official was on scene and pronounced the couple dead.

She said the family also found her parents' dog, a 2-year-old chow-chow mix named Angel, dead in the couple's bed.

“My grandfather apparently heard the tree break beforehand and turned to protect my grandmother,” Savage said.

Aikens County Coroner Darryl M. Ables confirmed the couple's deaths to USA TODAY on Thursday. Ables did not release the official causes of death, but confirmed that an autopsy determined the cause of death was accidental.

“Nothing like that”: The National Guard supplies the cities cut off by Helene with supplies

Fundraiser to help the family with funeral costs

The couple's home was a total loss, Estep said.

The family has no plans to rebuild.

They plan to bury their parents on Saturday.

A fundraiser to help the family with funeral costs says the couple were “taken away too soon”.

“Jerry and Marcia were two of the kindest and most generous people I have ever known,” Brittany Estep, her daughter-in-law, wrote in the fundraiser she organized.

As of Thursday, more than 65 people had donated nearly $3,900 to help the family.

“They were born on the same day… and they died on the same day”

Estep said her parents were high school sweethearts and had been married for 50 years when she died.

Jerry Savage, 78, was born in Augusta, Georgia, to the late William and Frances Savage, the couple's obituary states, and his wife, 74, was born in LaFayette, Georgia, to the late Wallace and Geneva Webb.

“They were born several years apart on the same day (January 22) and died on the same day,” Estep said. “That’s how we see it. God’s plan.”

She said her father, a contractor and electrician, enjoyed oil painting and loved cars and motorcycles, especially Harley Davidsons. His wife retired from a career in banking.

“My mother was heavily involved in the church and her grandchildren were her life,” Estep said. “She lived for her family and took care of us. Our housewife. That was her joy. Your love.”

Both parents attended Second Baptist Church Beech Island, their daughter said, and loved the Lord.

“I know where they are (today),” Estep said Thursday with a slight giggle in her voice. “That’s for sure.”

In addition to their daughter and grandson, the couple is survived by their son, Mark Savage; son-in-law Darrell Estep, grandchildren Chris Estep (Brittany), Brandon Estep (Jennifer) and Katherine Savage; and seven great-grandchildren.

A memorial service for the couple will be held Saturday at Pineview Memorial Gardens in North Augusta, South Carolina.

Contributor: Dinah Pulver

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.

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