Fallen trees across SF snarl evening commute, smash parked cars

An aggressive storm Tuesday afternoon toppled trees citywide, including on heavily traveled arteries like Lombard Street.

One fell on a busy commercial corridor, located near the intersection of Fillmore and Haight streets. The tree appears to have taken down lights and power lines with it as it crushed a sedan.

Mohit Kohli, who witnessed the tree fall, told The Standard the owner of the crushed vehicle was an employee at a nearby business who was just about to move his car when it fell.

Major storms ripped across the Bay Area on Tuesday, bringing 70 mph winds and causing damage throughout San Francisco. Numerous other fallen trees have snarled rush hour traffic, and power outages have affected hundreds throughout the Bay. The storms have delayed roughly 300 flights and canceled another 27 at SF International Airport.

The San Francisco Fire Department was contacted for comment.

Elsewhere, trees blocked most of Post Street between Polk and Leavenworth streets in the Tenderloin, the eastbound blocks of Lombard Street in the Marina District and Bryant Street between 16th and 17th streets in the Mission.

San Francisco’s emergency system was overloaded with calls, leading to a plea to use 311 for anything non-life-threatening.