Mono winds destroy Oakhurst home, forcing out single mother and her twins

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- As another round of storms approaches, a lot of families are still reeling from the Mono wind event a few days ago.

A single mother in Oakhurst lost a lot but has some help coming her way.

A 75-foot pine tree crashed into Jessica Reed's Oakhurst home just as the man finishing off her remodeling stepped outside.

"He said he heard the snap and looked up and the tree was coming down," Reed said. "And he backed up and limbs started hitting him."

Limbs poked through the ceiling and one of them missed her 9-year-old daughter's bed by just a few feet.

RELATED: 5 families displaced, 339,000 customers without power due to ferocious Valley winds

"I looked up and there was a huge hole," said Rylee Reed.

The fallen tree totaled two cars and two trucks in the driveway and insurance adjusters say Reed will probably have to tear down two-thirds of the house.

She and her twins can't go home for about six months and because she got the minimum insurance, she won't get help with living expenses and she'll have to pay 15% of total reconstruction.

Reed will struggle to pay for the damage because her business is a hair salon she was scheduled to open just as the pandemic started.

"Being a single mom and owning a business, I cannot run and having a mortgage on my own and my two kids, it's definitely been a struggle," she said.

A giant tarp is protecting what's left of the house from the storms coming over the next week and a friend set up a GoFundMe page to help her pay for reconstruction, somewhere to live, and maybe replace her car.

She may eventually need help from the Red Cross too, but for now, her neighbor at Southgate Retreats is letting the family stay at his Airbnb.

"He's super nice," Rylee said.

"He is," her mom responded. "The outpouring of love and kindness in this mountain community is heartwarming."

A lot of people are stepping up, just when she needed a hug.