Overnight windstorm uproots San Francisco trees, damaging cars and breaking windows
The major windstorm overnight caused big problems in many parts of San Francisco. City workers were overwhelmed by the amount of downed trees and power lines.
"We're just really fortunate the tree didn't (fall) that way because it would have crushed my brother. He stays right there," said Henry Jimenez, as he pointed at his brother's bedroom.
Instead, the large tree fell in the opposite direction and crushed a car in front of Jimenez's house.
Public works shut down his block on Folsom Street, between 25th and 26th streets, because three trees damaged cars and broke windows from two houses.
Jimenez, a lifelong Mission District resident, said he's never seen such powerful winds.
"The tornado warning woke me up and then it was just so loud I thought the windows were going to be blown in. So I went running to the hallway because there were no windows there," recalled Jimenez.
Unlike Jimenez, many people told CBS News Bay Area they went back to sleep after the tornado alert on their cellphone woke them up at 5:52 a.m. on Saturday.
"I didn't even take it seriously. I was like 'There's no way, no way that there's an actual tornado coming through here,'" said San Francisco resident Matthew Phillips.
City officials said they were not aware of any confirmed reports of tornados in the city.
But they said the winds were extremely gusty. In Golden Gate Park, powerful winds uprooted multiple trees.
"This is some of the craziest damage I've seen. I can only imagine in people's backyards, it must be a mess all over the city," said Phillips, who also works as an arborist.
Public works spokesperson Rachel Gordon said they are prioritizing major incidents with life and safety issues.
"Right now, we're really triaging. The trees that are down on property, the trees that are down on wires, the trees that are down on cars or on the roads, those are the ones that the tree crews are going at first. The ones that are not causing a lot of problems in the right-away, blocking traffic, those we'll get to as soon as we can," said Gordon.
Workers shut down a stretch of San Jose Avenue and nearby Arlington Street in the Glen Park neighborhood.
Strong winds knocked down about a dozen trees on those streets. Some of them damaged parked cars.
"All along the Bernal Cut here, there's downed tree after downed tree. You can see cars being crushed," said neighbor Bok Choy Mathewson.
In the Mission District, trees and large limbs blocked traffic lanes and driveways.
On Guerrero Street, firefighters removed heavy roof tiles that were about to fall onto the sidewalk.
In the Outer Richmond, trees and powerlines landed on parked cars on Fulton Avenue.
Jimenez said he was glad it wasn't worse.
"Everyone came out healthy," said Jimenez.
San Francisco officials said there were no reported injuries. They said it'll take a few more days to clear out all the trees and debris.
