SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Two people were found dead in San Francisco during last weekend’s powerful rainstorm.
A woman’s body was found in Golden Gate Park next to a large tree branch that fell late Saturday afternoon. Gusty winds were blowing at the time. A jogger spotted the woman on the ground and called 911, according to the San Francisco Fire Department.
Firefighters determined that the victim had been jogging when she was struck by the tree branch and suffered fatal head trauma.
She was identified by the Chief Medical Examiner Tuesday as 73-year-old Beth Louise Abrams of San Francisco.
“We are heartbroken that one of our park users tragically lost her life during the Jan. 14 storm when a limb fell from a pine tree,” city parks and recreation officials wrote.
The tree was one of hundreds that lost limbs or toppled over completely during a parade of storms. One hiker found a huge 150-year-old Cypress tree that crashed into Metson Lake in Golden Gate Park.

There are about 131,000 trees spread over 4,113 acres of recreational open space in the city. Arborists inspect potentially unstable trees daily, however, extreme weather events make it difficult to predict when trees will fall, city parks officials said. Even healthy trees can be toppled by high winds combined with rain-saturated soil.
According to the National Weather Service, San Francisco has received 18 inches of rain since Dec. 26, 2022, making it the wettest 22-day period since 1862.
The pine tree that killed Abrams was in fact healthy, city park officials said, and the tree will not be removed from Golden Gate Park.
On Sunday, a body was found floating in the San Francisco Bay near the Embarcadero and Ferry Plaza. Heavy downpours, surging surf, and a 5.8-foot high tide had flooded parts of the Embarcadero earlier that morning.
The Chief Medical Examiner identified the person on Tuesday as 37-year-old Alexander Tellez. Tellez was pulled out of the water by firefighters just after 10 a.m. Sunday.
“The SF Medical Examiner arrived on scene, took custody of the body, and is leading the investigation. Foul play is not suspected,” police wrote.
KRON4 asked the Chief Medical Examiner whether the two deaths were classified as directly storm-related. A spokesperson for the medical examiner responded, “There is no additional comment. Cause of death for all cases is available approximately 90 days after the date of death.”