Tree blown over into Rohnert Park home traps resident; house red-tagged
A large eucalyptus tree fell into a home in Rohnert Park Friday afternoon, trapping a resident inside and damaging the house enough for officials to red-tag the uninhabitable structure, authorities said.
The tree was blown down by what officials reported as a "severe wind event" that moved through the neighborhood near Myrtle Ave. in southern Rohnert Park shortly after 1 p.m. A large section of the tree crashed into the home, with branches blocking both the front door and the rear entrance, trapping the sole female occupant inside until public safety officers were able to clear the debris.
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"We were able to get the occupant out and secure the utilities and from there just tried to mitigate the aftereffects," said Rohnert Park Dept. of Public Safety Lt. Andrew Smith. "From talking to some other residents, it was pretty gusty winds for five to ten minutes right before this."
The woman was not injured, officials said. Other neighboring properties also sustained damage from the tree, including a fence and part of a roof covering a few houses away.
The structural damage to the main home that was hit by the tree was significant enough for the home to be red-tagged, officials said.
The Red Cross has been summoned to assist the resident displaced from the Myrtle Ave. home, officials said.
The incident happened amid a stretch of rainy and windy weather that began early Wednesday morning with the arrival of an atmospheric river storm system. The storm's strong winds brought down trees in Alamo and along the shoulder of westbound I-80 in Vacaville among other locations as well as causing power outages across the region.
While most of the latest chilly system's inclement weather had moved through the Bay Area by Friday morning -- leaving a dusting of snow at higher elevations -- the convergence of three warm, cold, and occluded fronts created unstable atmospheric conditions, delivering some relatively intense but short-lived rain showers.
