Branch Falls During Storm, Kills Buford Man
Motorcyclist Ralph Frazier, 50, had reportedly pulled off the road to wait out a storm when he was struck in the head by a falling limb.
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A Buford man is dead after a storm-related accident in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The Mountaineer reports Ralph Frazier, 50, of Buford was killed by a falling branch during a July 5 thunderstorm.
According to a post on Roadglide.org, Frazier and a passenger were riding a motorcycle near Gatlinburg, Tenn. when a storm arose.
" ... they pulled to the side of the [road] to wait it out, and a tree fell and killed him, good people do die young, he will be missed, we here are just in shock," wrote a person going by the name of "Jettjocky."
Frazier, one of the founders of Frazier's Harley-Davidson in Buford, Ga., died at the scene. His passenger was uninjured.
Frazier was one of two park visitors killed during the Thursday storm. A 41-year-old Tennessee woman was also killed by a falling tree near the Abrams Creek Campground. Three other people were injured in the incident. Two of the victims, a 7-year-old girl and the girl's father, were flown to the University of Tennessee Hospital in Knoxville, Tenn. for treatment, The Mountaineer reported.
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Hope Thompson
2:59 pm on Friday, July 6, 2012
Ralph was good friends with my Brother and he will be miss by soooo many ! He was a great person !
North Georgia Weather
6:17 pm on Friday, July 6, 2012
Sad. My neighbors have a large oak tree in their backyard and I won't walk under it. I've witnessed too many large branches falling from it, and they fall very quickly.
Kristi Reed
10:38 pm on Friday, July 6, 2012
Yes, and it doesn't take a large tree branch either. It is just so tragic to think he was taking care to not be on the road on a motorcycle during the storm and ended up being killed while trying to be safe.