(KRON) — Storm conditions from the latest atmospheric river to rip through the Bay Area claimed the lives of five people. Falling trees and limbs were the main culprits, taken down by the storm’s severe winds and rain.
Two people were killed in San Francisco Tuesday just 20 minutes apart in two separate storm-related incidents and both by fallen trees, according to San Francisco police. They have been identified as Ryan Taylor, 36, of Clark County, Nev., 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 fallen trees and limbs in San Francisco during Tuesday’s storm.
Elsewhere in the Bay Area, a van driver was killed near Portola Valley 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 have started a GoFundMe to help his family with any funeral expenses.
Another man was killed when a tree fell on a car in which he was a passenger in Walnut Creek. The victim has been identified as Thomas Huster, 79, of Walnut Creek, according to the Contra Costa County Coroner’s Office.
A fifth victim was killed while inside a tent set up near Lake Merritt when a large tree fell on the tent, Oakland officials said. The fifth victim has not been identified yet.