Hurricane Irma
A female SUV driver, who had braved Hurricane Irma on Monday, had her car flung up in the air as she crashed into a tree that came crashing down on the highway. A street is flooded during the passing of Hurricane Irma in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, on Sept. 6, 2017. Getty Images/ Jose Jimenez

In a horrifying video captured by the dashcam of a car, a female SUV driver, who had braved Hurricane Irma on Monday, had her car flung up in the air as she slammed into a tree that came crashing down on the highway.

April Baxter, who lived in a mobile home in Georgia, was making her way to her sister-in-law’s home via Georgia Highway 92 south of Atlanta, in order to get to a place that is more secure when it comes to riding out the storm when the incident occurred.

The video shows Baxter’s car driving in the heavy rainstorm when a tall pine tree suddenly became uprooted and came crashing down. The trunk of the tree missed Baxter’s white Lexus, which was driving at 40 mph, by mere inches as she hit the brakes with all her might. The car slammed into the tree as it hit the ground with full force and the impact of it sent the rear end of the car flying in the air.

The SUV came crashing down to a stand still and the car following close behind also stopped. Baxter recalled the close-call with death in an interview, later on, stating that she did not expect to survive the accident.

“It started falling and just closed my eyes and hit the brakes," Baxter told local news outlet WSB-TV. “I closed my eyes and the airbags popped. It was all so fast, very fast."

"I thought, 'This is the end. I'm done,'" she added.

Michael Head, whose vehicle was following Baxter’s SUV and on whose dashcam the video was recorded, is seen getting out of the car and rushing to check on Baxter. He told NBC affiliate 11Alive that Baxter had been extremely lucky with the timing of the incident.

"I was coming from downtown Griffin and was heading home, and I had been following the car for a while - She (the driver of the Lexus) slammed on the brakes,” Head said. “Thank God she saw it in time. She was shaken, but OK - I think she was more scared about the fraction of a second of what could have happened. If she had been looking at the radio or on her phone, it would have been a different story."

This might explain why Baxter is not seen coming out of the vehicle even after seconds of opening the car door on her side. After Head rushes to help Baxter another vehicle that was headed in the opposite direction, is also seen stopping near the point where the tree had fallen on the road. The driver of the third car also gets out of his vehicle and walks over to check out the situation.

Head stated that he dialed 911 as well as Baxter’s husband and waited back with her until the emergency services arrived on the scene. Baxter had suffered non-life threatening injuries including a seat belt burn, a strained shoulder muscle and bruised knee, the Mirror reported.