Powerful winds sent a massive eucalyptus tree crashing onto a minivan in Santa Clarita on Friday, leaving the driver injured but alive after the frightening collision.
The tree fell onto the vehicle while the driver was inside on McBean Parkway, north of Magic Mountain Parkway, at about 12:40 p.m., authorities and witnesses said.
The woman was traveling northbound when the tree came down. She survived the impact but was injured and taken to a hospital for treatment.
“We heard it too. It was like a loud crack,” one witness told a journalist at the scene. “It falls, and from 100 to 150 feet away, the concrete rumbled. We felt it.”
“Everybody around started scattering. We heard it and felt it, and this lady was inside with her car,” the witness said. “Thankfully, she wasn’t in the right lane, because if she had been, she would’ve been toast.”
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Los Angeles County Fire Department crews and Santa Clarita officials responded to the scene, while the northbound lanes of McBean Parkway were closed, according to The Signal.
Crews used chainsaws to cut the fallen eucalyptus into sections and clear the debris from the roadway.
The tree temporarily blocked every lane of the road, disrupting traffic in the area.
The incident unfolded as winds of up to 70 mph were expected to sweep through the region on Friday.