Falling trees in San Francisco claimed the lives of two people and left a police sergeant seriously hurt. Sergio Quintana reports.
A powerful storm that whipped through San Francisco on Tuesday claimed the lives of two people, the mayor's office announced Wednesday.
The two people, 36-year-old Ryan Taylor of Nevada and 55-year-old Qiaoying Han of San Francisco, were both killed by falling trees in separate incidents.
"Tragically, two people lost their lives, which is a grave reminder of how serious and dangerous this storm became," Mayor London Breed said in a statement. "The repeated storms have been challenging, but our public workers have been out keeping residents safe, limiting damage as much as possible and quickly cleaning up the City."
One of the trees came down on Post Street in the Tenderloin.
"I heard a loud crack," witness Tasha Deem said. "I looked out my window and this tree here, one branch had fallen into the street right there, and then another branch had fallen this way. All I could see was a man's legs out from under the car and the tree."
Deem said two people were injured by the fallen tree. Taylor was rushed to a local hospital but did not survive. He was visiting from Las Vegas.
The other deadly incident happened on Lincoln Way near Golden Gate Park. According to witnesses, a woman, later identified as Han, was waiting at a bus stop when a branch snapped in the wind and landed on her.
"I saw the ambulance and the police officers' cars here," said May, one witness. "Then we walked by and we saw the paramedic people doing CPR."
During Tuesday's storm, hundreds of trees and limbs came crashing down, tens of thousands of customers lost power, and glass and debris fell from high-rise buildings, the mayor's office said.
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"We saw areas of significant damage, as well as dangerous conditions caused by falling glass and downed trees," Breed said. "I want to thank all the City workers who have been out taking care of San Francisco during and after this most recent storm."
