More than 700 branches, fallen trees scattered throughout SF after Sunday storm

Lyanne Melendez Image
Monday, October 25, 2021
More than 700 branches, fallen trees scattered throughout SF
San Francisco residents woke up this morning to find several hundred fallen trees and debris across the city.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco residents woke up Monday morning to find several hundred fallen trees and debris across the city. The saturated ground and the strong winds forced many trees to topple over. According to the Department of Public Works, more than 700 big branches and fallen trees were reported throughout the city.

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Yesterday morning, the owner of a Prius on Kensington Way in the Forest Hill neighborhood had a Monterey Cypress crash into the back of her car.

DPW spokesperson Rachel Gordon told her she could file a claim with the city attorney's office.

"As long as the ground is saturated, it's likely that there's going to be some more trees failing in the next couple of days, so just keep an eye for that, let us know and our crews will get there," explained Gordon.

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Several drivers abandoned their vehicles on I-880 in Fremont after flooding from one of the strongest storms to hit the Bay Area in years

This was the tale of the city following the storm, trees landing on homes and scaffolding collapsing onto the street. The Botanical Garden inside Golden Gate Park was closed, deemed unsafe for the public.

This Monday, Oct. 25, 2021 image shows a scaffolding that was knocked over during a strong storm in San Francisco.
This Monday, Oct. 25, 2021 image shows a scaffolding that was knocked over during a strong storm in San Francisco.
KGO-TV

Over the weekend and Monday morning city crews had cleaned out about 200 catch basins. The work to unplug a few remaining flooded storm drains continues.

"The San Francisco PUC has something called Adopt-A-Drain program, we have something called Adopt-A-Street. We will give you tools, give you rakes, brooms and bags, anything that you need to help take care of your neighborhood. We have hundreds of people doing that already," added Gordon.

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"This is terrible!" exclaimed Frances Lugo, one of those good neighbors clearing the sidewalk of all the fallen leaves.

"I'm doing one block at a time and I have an orange trash bag that the city gives you and it's something about the Giants clean and sweep up and we'll give you that if you take care of a block," she told us.

Residents are encouraged to do the same and place the leaves in their green bins to keep them from getting into nearby catch basins.

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