Girl injured after redwood tree falls on California school during severe storm

Written by on March 14, 2023

Girl injured after redwood tree falls on California school during severe storm
Mario Tama/Getty Images

(LOS ALTOS, Calif.) — A student suffered a minor head injury after a redwood tree fell on an elementary school in the San Francisco Bay area on Tuesday, school officials said, as the latest atmospheric river brings severe weather to California.

The redwood tree fell around 12:30 p.m. local time at Oak Avenue Elementary School in Los Altos in Santa Clara County, school officials said. A girl was taken by ambulance with her parents to a local hospital.

Los Altos, located in Silicon Valley, prides itself on its tree-lined streets.

The incident occurred as the National Weather Service in San Francisco reported wind gusts as high as 70 mph midday Tuesday. Downed trees were also reported in neighboring Santa Cruz County.

More than 330,000 customers were without power in California Tuesday afternoon amid the heavy rains and high winds.

A wide swath of the state is currently under a flood watch, with a high flood risk for Southern California. Rainfall totals of two to four inches are expected in many areas along the southern California coast, with totals of up to six inches possible in the foothills and mountains. Rainfall rates of up to one inch per hour are possible during the peak of the storm.

Parts of Monterey County in northern California are also still underwater after a levee along the Pajaro River breached over the weekend, flooding the community of Pajaro.

The rain is expected to continue into Wednesday in Los Angeles and San Diego.

The atmospheric river is then expected to become the next cross-country storm. It is forecast to start pushing east on Wednesday, bringing heavy snow to the Colorado Rockies and rain for the desert Southwest, where parts of central Arizona are under a flood watch.

By Thursday, the snow will push into the plains of Nebraska and from Iowa to Wisconsin.

ABC News’ Kenton Gewecke contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.


Reader's opinions

Leave a Reply


Current track

Title

Artist