High winds topple trees across Southern California

High winds and heavy rain have toppled trees across California with this latest El Nio storm causing injuries and at least one death in San Diego.

On Sunday an 8-foot-wide tree came crashing down on a small car, killing the person inside instantly in San Diego.

“We ran over to see if we could help out or assist in any way and we got as close as we could, try to see if anyone could respond an we couldn’t even see a body,” said Chris Travis a witness talking to 10News, KGTV.

Also in San Diego, two KGTV journalists are recovering from serious injuries after a 50-foot tall tree fell on them as they were working. Both journalist needed surgery.

The storm didn’t do nearly as much damage here in the desert. We did have some high winds across the valley.

Places like Cathedral City were prepared for flooding.

“Anytime you have a rain storm coming into to Cathedral City you want to make sure that there is no flooding on Cathedral Canyon Drive, we also want to make sure that all of our storm drains are cleaned out to make sure flooding doesn’t back up. We did all that,” said Chris Parman, Communication Manager for Cathedral City.

The new Eagle Canyon Dam in Cathedral City held up well during the last two El Nio storms.

Trees can be dangerous during storms. Branches palm tree husks littered the roadway during and after the rain. People need to make sure their trees are healthy long before the wind starts to blow and the rain starts to fall.

“If you have trees that you are responsible for, you should do some tree care throughout the year. If a tree looks overgrown, stressed, has broken branches, or have branches that cross each other, and for palm trees if the crown doesn’t look healthy, or if the tree doesn’t look healthy, have a certified arborist or one of you landscapers come take a look at it,” said Pat Milos, Community Development Director for Cathedral City.

Also make sure you don’t over water your trees throughout the year. That can weaken the root system making it easier to fall during a storm.

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