(KRON) – Storm conditions from the last atmospheric flow to tear through the Bay Area claimed the lives of five people. Uprooted trees and branches were the main culprits, brought down by the storm’s violent winds and rain.
According to the San Francisco Police Department, two people were killed Tuesday in San Francisco, just 20 minutes apart, in two separate storm-related incidents and both by downed trees. They have been identified as Ryan Taylor, 36, of Clark County, Nevada, and Qiaoying Han, 55, of San Francisco County, according to the San Francisco Medical Examiner’s Office.
City officials said they recorded more than 700 reports of downed trees and branches in San Francisco during Tuesday’s storm.
MORE: Storm kills 5 in San Francisco Bay Area
Elsewhere in the Bay Area, a van driver near Portola Valley was killed while driving on Alpine Road near I-280 when a eucalyptus tree fell on his van. He has been identified as Jesus Cruz Diaz, 29, of San Jose. Colleagues of his remembered Cruz as a skilled plumber and hard worker and started a GoFundMe to help his family with all funeral expenses.
Another man was killed when a tree fell on a car he was in in Walnut Creek. The victim was identified as Thomas Huster, 79, of Walnut Creek, according to the Contra Costa County Coroner’s Office.
A fifth victim was killed in a tent near Lake Merritt when a large tree fell on the tent, Oakland officials said. The fifth victim has not yet been identified.
