High Winds Knock Down Trees, Rupture Gas Line

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Strong winds and rain caused troubles for thousands in the Sacramento region on Friday afternoon.

"Everything was just messed up," said Eric Kingsbury.

There were struggles for thousands on the roads. Dozens of intersection traffic lights went out.

"It took me like 20 minutes to make that turn," said Kingsbury talking about his typical 10-minute commute that turned into more than a half hour.

"All the stoplights all the way down to Fair Oaks was off," said Kingsbury.

Falling trees were also a concern.

One hit a home in Stockton. Another fell across Elm Street in Lodi. A car hood was damaged by a falling tree in Manteca.

And in Modesto, the fire department was called to put out flames started when a tree fell and ruptured a gas line.

Back in Sacramento, a 30-year-old pine tree split and fell on top of Caleb Greenwood Elementary School. An AC unit was damaged, but the roof held. No children were there at the time.

A few miles away, another scare at a school.

"We could hear the wind and then we heard a loud crack," said Laura Butler, the principal at Abraham Lincoln Elementary.

"We came outside and saw the tree fell," said Butler.

The tree heavily damaged a substitute teacher's car. No one was hurt.

Wind and rain. Many people say they're getting tired of it.

"We've had a lot of water and floods, but this is ugly," said Kingsbury. "This is really ugly man."