Tyffany Mitchell noticed a tree swaying as she drove home from work Monday on Fruit Valley Road. The tree snapped and started to fall, so Mitchell slammed on her brakes. Branches landed on her 1999 Mitsubishi Galant and bent the car’s frame, shattered the passenger-side back window and punctured the oil pan. Oil oozed around her car.
The uprooted tree appears to be a Norway maple, said Vancouver’s Kelly Punteney.
Mitchell’s car was the only one damaged when the tree fell. In the hour around 2:32 p.m., when the incident was reported, the National Weather Service measured wind gusts of 19 mph at the Interstate 5 Bridge, 23 mph at Pearson Field and 29 mph in Hazel Dell. High winds continued all evening.
“You never think that will happen while you’re driving,” Mitchell said. “I’m lucky — very lucky.”
