Wind topples tree onto woman as she bikes up Naito Parkway

It’s windy out there. Very windy.

This afternoon there were reports of trees and branches falling all over the region. Before leaving the office for the day, Jonathan posted the following tweet:

Then, what he’d posted in jest actually happened to an unlucky woman riding downtown.

According to a Portland Police Bureau report, a woman who was biking in downtown Portland survived a tree falling on her in the bike lane. It happened just after 4 p.m., according to police. She received “traumatic but not life-threatening injuries.”

Check out a photo of the tree and the full PPB press release below the jump…

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The Oregonian tweeted a photo of the tree…

And here’s more info on the woman who was hit by the tree via the PPB:

On Tuesday November 11, 2014, at 4:12 p.m., Central Precinct officers responded to Southwest Naito Parkway and Morrison Street on the report that a large tree fell onto the roadway and struck a passing cyclist and landed on an occupied vehicle.

Officers and medical personnel arrived and located the bicycle rider who was suffering from traumatic but not life-threatening injuries. She has been transported to a Portland hospital for treatment. Occupants of the vehicle were not injured by the falling tree.

Presently, both northbound lanes of Naito Parkway are blocked and only one southbound lane is open. No time estimate is available to have the road re-opened due to several reports of trees down in Portland.

Drivers should use alternate routes, such as Southwest 2nd Avenue for northbound and Southwest 3rd Avenue for southbound.

Did you ride in the wind tonight? How’d it go for you?

Michael Andersen (Contributor)

Michael Andersen (Contributor)

Michael Andersen was news editor of BikePortland.org from 2013 to 2016 and still pops up occasionally.

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Jayson
Jayson
9 years ago

I drove to the store after I got home today and was afraid even doing that. Things were falling and flying everywhere..

Chris
Chris
9 years ago

Riding to and from work went relatively smooth. A lot of debri on the road/bike lanes. It reminded me of a riding in Nebraska, which I’m happy I’m not doing anymore. But nothing like a branch falling on me! Hopefully she heals quickly.

Lionel
Lionel
9 years ago

Rode in Hillsboro and Gresham. Having the wind at my back was great, but the cross wind was brutal. Can’t wait till tomorrow.

stasia:)
9 years ago

Oh my gosh. SUPER beautiful riding down through Washington Park–lots of downed limbs, but the thrill of swirling leaves and howling wind made a normal commute feel like an adventure:)

Though I’m definitely grateful my adventure was incident-free. Heal quickly, Naito cyclist, and happy thoughts for the rest of y’all out there. Stay safe! And enjoy! 🙂

Gary Bang
Gary Bang
9 years ago
Reply to  stasia:)

I’m with you! It was absolutely surreal last night. I’m glad I’m not the only one who gets to experience the ride through the park–though it certainly seems that way sometimes.

jonno
jonno
9 years ago

The gusts were so strong over the Broadway bridge that I was standing up and cranking to maintain headway on my singlespeed on the flat and the first part of the downhill.

Anne Hawley
Anne Hawley
9 years ago

I had to get off my bike and push it into the wind on an incline next to a tall building in the Lloyd/Sullivan’s Gulch area this afternoon. The wind was HOWLING down that street! I absolutely could not pedal against it. Very glad to get home and indoors!

It must have been a terrible shock to the Naito cyclist. I hope she will be okay.

Gerald Fittipaldi
Gerald Fittipaldi
9 years ago

Looks like the wind could be just as strong tomorrow morning! Hope the bike rider and driver are OK.

John Liu
John Liu
9 years ago

I’m in Phoenix now, where it is 84 F under cloudless blue skies . . . I wish I was in Portland. Weather is always better than no weather.

Scott B
9 years ago

Left early this afternoon and rode across the Burnside Bridge with a very nice tailwind.

Decided to head home early around 6PM rather than risk more extreme cold.

Lot’s of sideswipe gusts around Lloyd Center, Downtown and South Waterfront areas today – having an electric bike was really useful at times.

Crossing the lower deck of the Steel Bridge around 6PM on the way home was an adventure.

Blake
Blake
9 years ago

Saw the sad news about the tree falling on a rider (wish her a quick recovery) and since it is on my route home and I was pondering the strength of the trees in the wind on the way to work this morning decided to take Max. What a mistake! Running 20+ minutes late and stuck waiting in howling wind. I should have ridden instead!

Christopher Sanderson
9 years ago

I pulled a trailer full of material and tools from Dekum area back to SE Belmont and SE Cesar Chavez, and with coming out of the south and the east, it was a long, long ride home. Some of the wind tunnels were gnarly!

lyle w.
lyle w.
9 years ago

Not that i welcome the awful riding conditions, but it does strike me as kinda comforting that every year that passes since I’ve gotten back on my bike, the really hard stuff becomes easier to deal with psychologically as each year passes. I remember the first winter riding, and just thinking to myself after the first super cold ride: ‘How do people do this for six months?’… and then the next year, just a little easier… and then tonight riding home while literally being blown sideways with my face freezing as a branch flys into my fork, and just pulling over, ripping it out, and riding off without even thinking about it.

Steve B
Steve B
9 years ago
Reply to  lyle w.

^^ Comment of the week contender right here! Totally identify with this sentiment.

wsbob
wsbob
9 years ago

The unoccupied vehicle may have broke the fall of the tree, lessening its blow to the woman riding by. Lucky. Hope her traumatic injuries are nothing more serious than scratches and shock. National weather forecast says winds are supposed to wind down around 3pm today, Wednesday.

yarrum
yarrum
9 years ago

A fellow rode into the back our parked car today. The wind blew him into it seems. He was hurt bad enough to require an ambulance. Our power was out so thank goodness we had a cell phone. The land line was cordless-not working. We didn’t get his name. Anybody know the rider? Coming down the steep hill between 53rd and 51st/Salmon around 1pm.

dan
dan
9 years ago

Wow, that’s my normal commute, but I took Broadway southbound yesterday, thinking it would be less windy. I had a trailer yesterday, and it was like towing a sail.

F.W. de Klerk
F.W. de Klerk
9 years ago

Does this rider have a case against the city maybe? Should this tree have been preventatively taken down?

rainbike
rainbike
9 years ago
Reply to  F.W. de Klerk

Seriously?

F.W. de Klerk
F.W. de Klerk
9 years ago
Reply to  rainbike

A healthy tree shouldn’t come down like that. These conditions are that extreme. Well, maybe they are for Portland.

Wasn’t this tree the responsibility of the city?

spare_wheel
spare_wheel
9 years ago
Reply to  F.W. de Klerk

on an earlier thread there were complaints about paying taxes for infrastructure and on this thread there is a readiness to sue the city for negligence due to the weather.

hmmmm…

caesar
caesar
9 years ago
Reply to  F.W. de Klerk

Dude… sometimes, just sometimes, like, it’s just nature’s way. An act of God. Or something. Chaos. Entropy. Shit Happens.

Then again, maybe we should preemptively axe down any tree taller than 11 feet growing within 30 feet of a roadway, sidewalk, trail, viaduct, overpass, plaza, square, food truck, donut shop or elementary school.

Craig Harlow
Craig Harlow
9 years ago

When I left work last night at around 5:30, riding near NE 9th & Multnomah, my bike was pushed sideways by a sudden wind blast as I rode over thick patch of dry leaves. As the bike started sliding sideways, I leaned into the wind and the bike kept its footing, so to speak. It only lasted for a split second.

The wind is always especially forceful among the tall buildings at this intersection. There’s the channeling of the wind between the high-rises, but I also wonder if a vortex is formed at that intersection during especially high winds.

Craig Harlow
Craig Harlow
9 years ago
Reply to  Craig Harlow

The wind was aided in its efforts by my extra-large panniers, which seem to act as sails.

Katherine Rose
Katherine Rose
9 years ago
Reply to  Craig Harlow

I rode for ten miles last night from OHSU through downtown and then throughout SE running errands, and it wasn’t until a few blocks from my home, on NE Multnomah, that I legitimately almost got blown over! I think I was a bit further west than 9th — around 7th or 8th — but yeah. tricky spot!

Chelsea
Chelsea
9 years ago

Heading east out of downtown last night, it was hard to maintain my lane at times. I was concerned about hitting a downed limb as I was going through Ladd’s in the dark, but didn’t think to worry about a whole tree falling on me! Hope the cyclist makes a swift recovery.

dbrunker
dbrunker
9 years ago

I was riding home last night, just before 10pm when I saw something strange on the Neighborhood Greenway of Everett near 49th. As I approached I saw fire department “do not cross” tape across the road and side walks on both sides of the street with a tree completely blocking Everett. It’s sad, the tree was in its beautiful Fall color. I tried to take a picture and put it on Twitter but my phone’s camera is no good taking pictures in the dark.

A few blocks later I saw a tiny squashed car. On closer investigation it turned out to be a motorcycle laying on its side.

CaptainKarma
9 years ago
Reply to  dbrunker

“Who ya gonna call…,Ghostbusters!”

SilkySlim
SilkySlim
9 years ago

Last night was definitely one of the toughest commutes I’ve had in years, and that includes both the ’08 and ’14 snowstorms. The wind was just brutal! Give me cold and rain and snow anytime, but those gusts were no fun.

Zaphod
9 years ago

The cargo bike was some work. Grateful for the heavy load as it dampened the gusts.

Joe
Joe
9 years ago

total madness riding yesterday and sure hope ice doesn’t hit. I don’t have a problem riding in it but riding around cars can be a challenge. lol

Steve B
Steve B
9 years ago

Last night riding home from the Blazers game I was grateful for the new super-wide Williams Ave bike lane, cause I would have been blown into passing traffic several times on the old configuration.

Shanana
Shanana
9 years ago

Rode home last night on Cornell from Hillsboro to Portland (WaCo) and it was one of the most fun, scary, and exhausting rides ever. Fortunately(!) it was mostly headwinds and not side gusts. At one point I swear I was pushed to a stop, then slightly backwards. Hardest pedaling I’ve ever done. And yet, during rush hour, I still went UPHILL faster than the backed up cars 🙂

Monica
Monica
9 years ago

Road 8 miles from south waterfront to North Portland starting at 5:30 with a tail wind most of the way. Side gusts along with waterfront were crazy and even the lower deck of the Steel Bridge was challenging, but I just kept thinking this was the trade-off for the morning ride in, which was so beautiful it was positively magical.

Andyc of Linnton
Andyc of Linnton
9 years ago

I had a car-oriented….let’s not talk about it.
But, at one point I was on Broadway at the intersection of Everett and noticed a lot of bicycles using the sidewalk to get on to the Broadway Bridge due to the inordinate amount of auto traffic on the street.
My first thought was, “Wow, we could really use a bike lane on Broadway headed north between Burnside and Hoyt.”

Maria
Maria
9 years ago

Riding home from work yesterday along the Bluff was really tough (and scary). Managed to get two pieces of glass in my front tire while trying to avoid all the branches, leaves, bark etc and ended up with a flat but luckily made it to Revolver before they closed at 7 pm. Glad there is public transpo available for when you really might need to use it.

Dwaine Dibbly
Dwaine Dibbly
9 years ago

I hope the woman recovers quickly and completely.

Can we get an update on her condition? Perhaps an interview or a statement from her?