Tree Smashes Moving Truck, Rain Swamps College Parking Lot as Early Storm Moves Through the Central Coast
John Palminteri
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – A huge tree branch snapped as the driver of a truck was passing through a Santa Barbara park parking lot this morning, damaging the vehicle but no serious injuries were reported.
It happened on the tail end of a night of rain.
The bulk of the rain went north of Santa Barbara or south to Ventura County. For parts of the night there was a dry spot over Santa Barbara with rain moving high and low over the region.
The Santa Barbara City College Parking lot was swamped by runoff water below the construction site for the new Athletic Department near the football field. Workers opened up the drain and cleared debris to get the water moving from what a passerby said was a small lake.
The tree incident was before 9 a.m. as a worker on a house project nearby was turning through the parking lot. The Chevy Silverado ZR2 was not in a parking space and was moving when the Coastal Cypress branch came down on the cab and truck bed.
The City of Santa Barbara dispatched a forestry crew to do a surgical series of cuts on the branches to relieve the pressure on the vehicle. Portions of the tree limbs were strewn about the area. It’s not known if the tree had previous issues or indications that the branch was going to break off.
Down the waterfront palm fronds were on a wide area of Cabrillo Boulevard and Chase Palm Park keeping workers busy picking them up one-by-one by hand.
The normally soaked Funk Zone drained well in this storm without any street closures or detours for drivers.
During the mid-morning, the U.S. Coast Guard was dispatched to the Carpinteria coast where it was orbiting a vessel that was a concern from the night before. Exact details were not immediately known, but the chopper was visible from the coastline.
The morning commute had a handful of minor crashes in Summerland, Carpinteria and Montecito but drivers were not significantly delayed, and there were no full closures from rainfall.
Thousands of commuters who live in Ventura County and work in Santa Barbara or Goleta take this route daily.
Just before noon, a vehicle went off the freeway, southbound at Refugio, and rolled over on to the Union Pacific railroad tracks. One person was inside and was able to get out without serious injuries. Trains were stopped while Smitty’s towing removed the vehicle. Santa Barbara CHP and County fire were on the call.
In areas known for street flooding including Gutierrez Street in Santa Barbara, business owners have placed sandbags and plastic barriers up to keep water from coming off the street and through their doors. Some of the water comes in waves due to the speed of passing cars.
(More details, video and photos will be posted later today.)
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