High winds downing trees, power lines around Merced

High winds on Wednesday night in Merced knocked down about a dozen trees and kept city crews busy clearing roadways.

Merced resident Melin Narayan was headed west around 6 p.m. on Olive Avenue near the Merced Mall when his car struck tree that had fallen into the roadway.

“I was driving and I looked at the road and there was nothing,” he said. “And then all of the sudden a tree appeared out of nowhere and by the time I put my brake I rammed against the tree.”

Narayan, 44, was not injured, but his car, a silver Honda sedan, sustained “quite a bit of damage,” he said.

Winds reached 51 mph near Castle Air Force Base in Atwater, according to Christine Riley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Hanford.

Tonight winds are expected 25 and 40 mph until 10 p.m., she said.

“There will be periods of strong winds through the weekend but nothing as strong as what was seen tonight and this afternoon,” Riley said.

The National Weather Service has issued a strong wind advisory with winds reaching above 40 mph, at least periodically, until around 2 a.m. Thursday on the west side Merced County.

Since about 4 p.m. today, 10 to 12 trees have fallen throughout Merced, confirmed city Public Works Supervisor Juan Olmos. When a tree falls, he said, city workers try to clear them away within the hour.

“We have a couple crews going around town clearing up all the trees,” Olmos said.

Several powers lines also have been downed, city officials said.

AJ Destasio, collection worker for the city of Merced, said more than a week’s worth of steady rain has softened the ground and “any kind of wind event causes the trees just to fall.”

“They’re just weaker than they usually are,” Destasio said. “Typically every storm cycle has a tree or two that will go down.”

Pacific, Gas & Electric company has reported about seven small power outages in Merced, affecting fewer than 50 people in total.

“Anytime there is rain and wind like we have right now they should really just slow down,” Destasio said. “This tree was in a real dark area and if you're going too fast you're not going to avoid it.”

Additionally, the area of Childs Avenue at Highway 59 remains closed due to recent flooding.

This story was originally published January 18, 2017 at 7:47 PM with the headline "High winds downing trees, power lines around Merced."