By Billy Davis and Rupert Howell

A six-month-old infant and her great-grandmother perished Monday afternoon when a towering oak fell on their camper at Sardis Lower Lake.

Evelyn Brower of Alabama was killed Monday when the oak tree, pushed over by straight-line winds, crushed the camper at the Oak Grove campground.

The infant, identified as Bell LaCompte, died at Tri-Lakes Medical Center.

Authorities said three more family members escaped from the camper, including a 9-year-old who suffered a broken arm.

Family members said Brower is originally from Clarksdale.

The small Jayco camper was ringed by 80-foot-tall oaks at the popular campground. The oak that snapped off at its base stood less than 10 feet from the camping pad.

First responders at the scene, working in a downpour, used chainsaws to cut away pieces of the tree, then a front end loader owned by the U.S. Corps of Engineers dragged them away.

The rain had stopped at 5 p.m. when sheriff’s deputies and Sardis Lake firefighters held up sheets and tarps as Brower’s body was finally removed from the camper.

Sardis Lake camper Michelle Bryant said the strong thunderstorm hit the campground seemingly without warning, with winds whipping so hard it knocked her 3-year-old son off his feet.

Bryant said she was still standing outside when she witnessed the oak falling onto the camper.

Family members said the infant’s parents had visited during the weekend then left Monday to return to work in Alabama.