Trees injure child, damage cars in King County



SEATTLE -- The first fall storm of 2016 is proving to be a dangerous one. A four-year-old child and his father are hurt after winds knocked over a tree in West Seattle near the Glen Garden Trail. The boy is at Harborview Medical Center in the Intensive Care Unit.

From West Seattle to the east side in Bellevue, winds kept first responders and crews busy. Strong winds took down trees in Bellevue and blocked roads, like on NE 21St Street.

Flooding became an issue too in some areas, including a parking lot that became hard to tell apart from the creek.

In Kirkland, the force of Mother Nature even toppled a massive tree onto four cars.

Dr. Mike Taggart says he’s shaken just thinking about what could have been had he and the others been in their cars.

“When I had a break I came out here, and I saw it and this car was smashed and all the rest, and so these are all employees that work here,” said Taggart.

In West Seattle, hikers familiar with the Glen Garden Trail, where a falling tree injured a father and his 4-year old son, say they aren’t surprised.

“I’ve seen that tree leaning as I walk to the park, wondering when it would come down,” said

It’s why Seattle City leaders are asking people to avoid parks until Mother Nature turns her attention elsewhere.

“If you can be inside rather than outside than sometimes the house can be just as dangerous as outside as well,” said Ray Patchen, who lives in West Seattle.

That father you just heard there says a lot of the soccer games in the area have been cancelled, unless they can be played on artificial turf away from trees.