Thirty THS students experienced the shock of the year when a tree collapsed onto their bus on Monday after school.

Stopped at a red light at the intersection of Baker and 249, students watched as a large, unstable tree bowed and broke, merely by chance, onto the front of TISD school bus 40.  As passengers watched, the large windshield was entirely traced with cracks where the tree had attempted to bust through.  It was only successful in a small portion of the lower left hand side.  Nobody was hurt.

“It was just so random,” THS sophomore Kara Sanford said. “I don’t understand.”

The impact left students talking.

“I felt like I was on a roller coaster.  You know?  That part where it shoots off,” THS sophomore Nick Hudson said.

“I just heard this big boom and there was a tree on our bus,” THS freshman, Elizabeth Woods added.

After complaints of THS students about all the practice and preparation for bus emergencies, THS freshman, Jaclyn Magill now knows the reason for such knowledge.

“I never thought we would actually ever use our emergency procedures,” Magill explained.

Help arrived soon after the fall of the tree.  Police showed to instruct the students what to do and where to go but most were still in shock from the bizarre accident.

THS freshman, Rebekah Ratcliff said, “We were sitting there and Alexa [Arnett] was like, ‘Is that tree falling?!’”

The astonishment that the students showed from the collapse of the tree was coupled with nervous laughter and gratitude at the immense amount of luck they had received.

Passenger and THS freshman, Ryan Liu-Pham was sitting closest to the crash when it occurred.  “Let’s just say, things were shaken up.” Liu-Pham said.  THS freshman, Holly Le also said, “I saw it bowing but I didn’t think it would actually fall.”

After being cleared with authorities, the bus was evacuated into a nearby yard and the students were directed to wait there until their new bus had arrived.  With the arrival of the new bus, the students were commended for their behavior and water was distributed throughout the bus and regular routines, followed.

 “I have been doing this for 18 years and this has never happened.” said an unnamed THS official.

Over any other witness, THS bus driver Jim Harper must have been the most shocked. 

“We were just sitting at a red light and the tree fell on top of us.” Harper said, continuing, “I never thought something like this would ever happen.”