Jo - who did not want her surname revealed - had been outside the Petrie home north of Brisbane as police arrived to inspect the nearby tree.
It had been swaying and "groaning" as the strong winds ripped through the region in the wake of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
"Looking at the tree we thought 'yeah that's coming down, let's get something done about it'," neighbour Ally - who did not want her surname released - told AAP.
However police didn't get far before the tree toppled, destroying part of Jo's home.
"I was standing on my front balcony and we could see it start to go and I just screamed out 'run'," Ally said.
"Jo and the police went running. The tree missed Jo by inches."
But Jo was more worried about the welfare of her three children - including a pregnant daughter - and young grandchild who were inside the house.
"The scream Jo let out is something I will never forget," Ally said.
"I can't even describe it. Jo was like 'let me get to my kids'."
Her children and granddaughter were sitting in the lounge room having breakfast when the tree landed in the kitchen just metres away.
"We went running over there to get people out of the house - they were in the lounge room thank God," Ally said.
"It landed about three feet next to them. The entire kitchen is gone."
Jo and the kids have found hotel accommodation in Brisbane as a "monster" clean-up gets underway.
"They literally left the house with the clothes on their back," Ally said.
A GoFundMe appeal has been set up for Jo's family, with $1500 already raised.
The tree is set to be removed as the region continues to recover from Alfred's impact.
Rain is clearing and floodwaters receding in southeast Queensland and northern NSW, with sunshine finally peaking through on Wednesday.
But plenty of work lies ahead as the region picks up the pieces.
About 50,000 homes and businesses remain without power, down from a peak of 420,000.
The severe weather led to 13,150 State Emergency Service jobs over nine days with 3676 calls for help on Monday alone in Queensland, a 24-hour record.
Fuel stations, abattoirs and food processing facilities are able to trade 24/7 for resupply following the disaster.
Supermarkets are restocking around the clock across southeast Queensland after shelves were stripped bare by panic buying.
Students at more than 100 schools stayed home for another day amid damage assessments.
But tourists have been urged not to cancel Easter holiday plans with the Queensland government declaring the state still open for business.
The Easter holidays are three weeks away and usually a busy time for the Sunshine State's tourism industry, bringing more than $2.5 billion to the economy last year.
"Our message to the rest of Australia and to the world is that Queensland remains open for business," Tourism Minister Andrew Powell told parliament on Wednesday.
About 80 per cent of the Gold Coast's renowned beaches had "gone into the ocean", local mayor Tom Tate said.
The environment department was assessing beaches and would look to replenish them with sand from offshore dredges, Mr Powell said.
The former cyclone dumped more than one metre of rain on the Gold Coast hinterland in less than a week.
More personal hardship payments were announced on Wednesday as the clean-up continued.
"We know the work is far from over and we are continuing that work," Queensland Premier David Crisafulli told parliament.
In northern NSW, floodwaters are receding but many suburbs remain isolated including Thora, Yamba, Lawrence and Diggers Camp.
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