Tree falls onto car's windshield

A woman was injured late last week when a dead tree at the side of the road blew over as she was driving past and shattered the windshield of her car.

The woman and her mother, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, were heading north on Newman Road near Highway 525 about 6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, when the tree smashed into their Subaru Outback, said Deputy Chief Mike Cotton of Island County Fire District 3.

Cotton said the driver sustained some injuries, but her mother appeared unhurt. Both were taken to Whidbey General Hospital in Coupeville, he said.

About an hour earlier, a three-vehicle collision at Howard Road intersection in Bayview shut down the southbound lane of Highway 525 for about 45 minutes and sent another woman driver to the hospital, Cotton said.

The incident occurred as the driver of the first vehicle, a Mercedes sedan, was attempting to turn from the highway onto Howard Road.

It was struck from behind by a minivan, which in turn was struck from behind by a Jeep Cherokee. The male driver, alone in the first vehicle, and three young occupants of the third vehicle appeared to be uninjured, Cotton said.

The woman driver of the second vehicle was taken to the hospital with unknown injuries.

Both incidents occurred during a windstorm that lasted about two hours early Friday evening. The storm blew trees and branches onto roadways in several parts of the South End, Cotton said.

"For about two hours, it was chaos, then it stopped," he said.

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