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'Everything just happened so quickly' | Man has near-death experience during Arkansas storms

"So when I shut the door and sat in my chair, that's when the tree fell right beside me and my dog," said Green.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — It only takes one moment, one unexpected event to change someone's life.

This statement became a fact to many Arkansans after experiencing the storms that blew across Arkansas Wednesday night, June 19.

"When I made it home, sat down to relax between 8:30 and 8:45, that's when everything just happened so quickly," Richard Green said. "That's when the tree fell on the house."

Richard Green's Little Rock home was completely destroyed after a tree fell on it during the storm Wednesday night.

When Green heard a cracking noise coming from the back of his house, his initial thought was that it must be a tornado. He started heading toward his bathtub to take shelter, but first opened the door and saw debris flying everywhere.

"So when I shut the door and sat in my chair, that's when the tree fell right beside me and my dog," Green explained.

Green's son, Rickey White, is thankful his father wasn't asleep in his bed when the storms occurred. The tree fell on top of Green's bedroom, completely destroying it. 

RELATED: Over 67k Entergy power outages, multiple state highway closures in Arkansas following severe wind speeds

"He decided not to go to bed just then. So that's just how quick, ya know, you can lose somebody to something like this," White said. 

As for injuries, Green said he only has a few bruises on his back from the sheet rock falling on him and considers himself blessed to have gotten out of the house in time. 

He knows that if he would've laid down in his bed that night, he wouldn't be here today.

"I was in a state of shock. I didn't know if I was coming or going. But when I knew I was outside, I knew I was alive. So that's the main thing," Green said.

Green's son said his only concern right now is for his father and his father's well-being.

RELATED: LRSD summer school and programs closed due to power outages

"All of this can be replaced at the end of the day," White said as he pointed toward his father's destroyed home. "I'm just glad that he's okay."

The severe weather Wednesday night brought several reports of fallen trees, state highway closures, and an estimated 67,000 power outages across Arkansas.

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