YUBA CITY, Calif. — An 82-year-old man in Yuba City died Sunday after being struck by a tree that fell during the second atmospheric river to hit California in a week.
Officers with the Yuba City Police Department responded to a report of a tree falling on David Gomes around 7 p.m. on Tres Picos Drive, according to Lt. Kim Slade, a department spokesman.
Slade said officers found the man under a large redwood tree in a backyard. The man was possibly on a ladder trying to clear the tree from his home, he said.
A neighbor in the area reported they heard a tree come down around 5 p.m., police said. The man was later found under the tree by the reporting party.
First responders began life-saving efforts but were unable to revive Gomes, law enforcement said.
Gomes’ family was unavailable for comment.
Yuba City, Sutter County response
Yuba City residents said the storm was one of the worst they've experienced in years.
Randy Cagle, 76, of Yuba City, said he counts himself lucky after Sunday’s storm knocked over the fence in his backyard.
"The wind was blowing just as hard as I've ever seen it blow,” Cagle said. “The power went out about 7:30 p.m. last night, and it stayed out till about 10 o'clock this morning."
He said he was saddened to hear a neighbor lost his life trying to keep a redwood from landing on his home at Tres Picos Drive.
“I'm elderly myself,” Cagle said. “You're always concerned when something like that might happen just out of nowhere. It's pretty tragic. It really is tragic. I'm sure his family's just as heartbroken as they can be."
Chuck Smith, a Sutter County spokesman, said the storm brought the worst wind the county has experienced since 2008.
“We happen to have families who are out of homes this morning because of trees going into their house and that's a very traumatic experience I'm sure,” Smith said.
An ABC10 reporter driving through Yuba City saw toppled trees, a trampoline in a fence, and several traffic lights out.
“When we talked to PG&E, they were in excess of 10,000 customers in Sutter County without power,” Smith said. “Currently, there's about 5,000.”
Smith said the reason PG&E is taking so long to restore power is because of the volume of people without power throughout the state. Sutter County has crews working on clean-up, too, he said.
While clean-up occurs, the community continues to send their condolences to Gomes’ family.
"We pray for them,” Cagle said. “Our hearts are broken that something like this happened to somebody... They have our prayers and thoughts."
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