FALLING TREE STRIKES CAR, KILLS DRIVER RAIN-UNDERMINED ROOTS, WIND DEADLY COMBINATION.Byline: Lisa M. Sodders Staff Writer After several days of fierce wind, a weakened 75-foot-high pine tree toppled and crushed a Jeep Grand Cherokee The Jeep Grand Cherokee is a mid-size sport utility vehicle produced by the Jeep division of DaimlerChrysler. European Grand Cherokees are manufactured in Austria by Magna Steyr. Development The Grand Cherokee was a spinoff of the smaller Jeep Cherokee. in Tarzana on Wednesday, killing a 75-year-old motorist as he drove down the street. Sheldon Miller Sheldon Miller is an american musician from Chicago, Illinois best known as the pianist and vocalist for the pop-punk band This Is Me Smiling. Biography Miller has been actively studying music and piano since the age of four, with vocal training following a few years was southbound on Reseda Boulevard near Mecca Avenue when the tree fell about 10:30 a.m., said Jim Wells of the Los Angeles Fire Department The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), also known as the Los Angeles City Fire Department to distinguish it from the Los Angeles County Fire Department. It is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Los Angeles. . Miller was pronounced dead at the scene. Officials believe that this season's record rainfall saturated the soil around the pine's roots and loosened the ground around the base of the trunk, apparently leaving the tree unstable in this week's wind. ``I heard this crack, and I knew the sound of a tree cracking, and I turned around immediately and saw the tree coming down,'' said Tarzana resident Mel Harrison. ``I saw this guy's white car coming, and I just thought, oh God, let him get past it. And it just nailed him. He didn't try to stop. I don't think he ever even saw the tree.'' Stuart Seto, weather specialist with the National Weather Service, said the winds Wednesday were strong but not extraordinarily so for this time of year. Peak winds in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. were 16 mph to 20 mph, gusting to 30 mph. Normal winds are 10 mph to 15 mph. ``This was a northeast, offshore wind, not quite to the level of a Santa Ana,'' Seto said. A wind advisory will be in effect until 3 p.m. today, although gusts are not expected to be as strong as they were earlier this week, Seto said. The wind will come from the northeast at 20 mph to 30 mph, with gusts up to 40 mph. Highs will be in the low 80s today and Friday, dropping to the high 70s on Saturday. Local tree experts said people should inspect the trees on their property, looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. what one called ``mushy mush·y adj. mush·i·er, mush·i·est 1. Resembling mush in consistency; soft. 2. Informal a. Excessively sentimental. See Synonyms at sentimental. b. spots'' that might indicate dry rot or newly exposed roots. ``Most of the time, the tree has been leaning for some time, and a big wind comes up, and down it goes,'' said Wayne Smith, owner of Nature's Tree Service in Reseda. ``We had a lot of them a couple of weeks ago. They just came down from too much moisture.'' Bill Fregoso, superintendent with the Los Angeles Street Los Angeles Street is a historic avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, California. Traffic on the street travels northbound only, from the I-10 Freeway in the south of downtown, through the Fashion District, and on through Little Tokyo, where it ends after passing between LAPD Tree Division, urged residents to call 311 if they see a fallen tree blocking traffic. City News Service contributed to this story. Lisa M. Sodders, (818) 713-3663 lisa.sodders(at)dailynews.com |
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