A 59-year-old woman lays on the ground this afternoon in Central Park after being struck by a tree limb (left) on her head. She suffered a broken arm chipped teeth as a result from falling.
A dog walker was also struck by a tree limb today in Carl Schurz Park in Manhattan earlier today witnesses said. (Photo: Courtesy @charleylhasa via Gothamist)
Manhattan
By Geoffrey Croft
A 59-year-old tourist from Terre Haute Indiana was hit by falling tree branch in Central Park this afternoon, the second person to be struck in the park by a tree limb in less than a week.
Sharon Reese was walking with her husband when a 3 inch in diameter branch from an Oak tree suddenly snapped and fell three stories hitting her in the head city sources said.
She was transported to St. Lukes Roosevelt Hospital.
The damaged Oak tree. (Photo: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on images to enlarge
The incident occurred inside the park on an asphalt path about 50 yards from a park entrance at West 86th Street and Central Park West just after 3:30pm.
The woman temporarily lost consciousness and initially could not remember what had happened to her according to city sources.
"It's scary," said jogger Penelope Clark who saw the victim shortly after the incident.
"I saw a woman lying on the ground. She had a bandage wrapped around her head, a giant branch on the ground. She had blood on her head."
"I saw a woman lying on the ground. She had a bandage wrapped around her head, a giant branch on the ground. She had blood on her head."
Central Park Conservancy workers quickly loaded the broken limb into the back of a pick-up truck and carted it away.
Ms. Reese was listed in stable condition this evening.
On June 3, a 46-year-old man was struck by a tree limb on 96th and Central Park West at 7:00am.
It was revealed last week that the City and the Central Park Conservancy settled two high profile tree injury cases for a total $ 14.5 million dollars.
By late afternoon, caution tape and barricades surrounded the tree.
Read/View More:
CBS - June 11, 2013 - By Derricke Dennis
New York Post - June 12, 2013 - By Erin Calabrese and Jamie Schram
NY1 - June 12, 2013
gothamist - June 12, 2013 - By John Del Signore
WABC - June 11, 2013 - By Jeff Pegues
WNBC - June 11, 2012 - By Gus Rosendale
New York Times - June 11, 2013 - By Joseph Goldstein and Randy Leonard
Fox 5 - June 11, 2013 - By Stacey Delikat
Am-New York - June 11 - By Tim Herrera
WCBS - June 11, 2013 - By Derricke Dennis
The Wall Street Journal - June 11, 2013
gothamist - June 11, 2013 - By John Del Signore
You know, I would love to see statistics comparing the number of injuries from falling trees and branches in recent years to the past. I would suspect they have vastly increased. In the not-so-distant past, I never heard of such injuries let alone deaths that now seem commonplace. Sure, storms are getting stronger but trees and branches are falling even when it's not particularly windy, and all too often they look rotten inside.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to protect trees AND people, you should check out: http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2013/01/29/whispers-from-the-ghosting-trees/