With yet another storm, albeit a short one, drenching Southern California, one woman in Riverside County is lucky to be alive after the already rain-soaked ground gave way under a massive tree that came crashing down on her vehicle as she was driving Wednesday.
First responders with the Riverside police and fire departments responded to the scene on Magnolia Avenue this afternoon.
“We were sitting in my home and from the window, we saw the tree come down and I was very concerned because we saw there was a car underneath the tree,” nearby resident Angela Hall, who called 911, said.
Hall added that the female driver appeared to have seen the tree falling and was able to stop just short of where her car would have been completely crushed.
A giant tree collapsed onto a driver after heavy rains in Riverside on Mar. 6, 2024. (OnSceneTV) 
A giant tree collapsed onto a driver after heavy rains in Riverside on Mar. 6, 2024. (OnSceneTV) 
A giant tree collapsed onto a driver after heavy rains in Riverside on Mar. 6, 2024. (OnSceneTV) 
A giant tree collapsed onto a driver after heavy rains in Riverside on Mar. 6, 2024. (OnSceneTV)
Video of the scene showed heavy damage to the front passenger side of the four-door BMW sedan and the windshield.
The impact of the tree was enough to deploy the vehicle’s airbags, which reportedly injured the woman, according to Hall.
The driver was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
Burt Williams, a longtime resident in the area, said that the tree was likely more than 100 years old, like many of the trees in the neighborhood.
“Last year, just across the street, a same size tree fell the same way,” Williams said.
City crews used chainsaw to cut the massive tree and brought in heavy machinery to clear the road as the victim’s vehicle was being towed from the scene.
