OF A POWER LINE. THIS IS A COMMON SIGHT ACROSS SACRAMENTO. CREWS CALLED IN TO CLEAR FALLEN TREES AND BRANCHES, IN THIS CASE, A BRANCH FELL AND SMASHED THIS PARKED CAR. I WENT INSIDE, CAME BACK OUT AND THE CAR WAS DONE. KCRA 3’S PEYTON HEADLEE SPOKE TO THAT OWNER. SHE’S LIVE IN MIDTOWN FOR US TONIGHT WITH A LOOK AT MORE DAMAGE FROM ALL OF THIS WIND. PEYTON. YEAH, DOWNED TREES AND BRANCHES ARE A FAMILIAR SIGHT ALL ACROSS SACRAMENTO. BIG BRANCHES AND SMALL BRANCHES. THEY ARE SCATTERED EVERYWHERE. CHECK OUT THIS ONE HERE. WE’RE ON D STREET. YOU CAN SEE IT CAME DOWN FROM PRETTY HIGH UP IN THIS TREE AND SMASHED DOWN. IT’S BLOCKING THE SIDEWALK. PARTS OF THE ROAD HERE. GOOD NEWS. IT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE IT DAMAGED ANY CARS. BUT WE CAN’T SAY THE SAME FOR OTHER BRANCHES AROUND THE CITY. WHEN THE CITY OF TREES GETS HIT BY STRONG WINDS, PARTS OF THE CITY’S CANOPY COME CRASHING DOWN. IT’S BEEN PRETTY HECTIC ALL DAY. CREWS LIKE EDGAR LARA WYSS HAVE BEEN WORKING AROUND THE CLOCK TO CLEAN UP THE MESS. RUNNING ALL OVER. YEAH, RUNNING ALL OVER. SAC TRYING TO CLEAN THE PLACE UP, MAKING SURE EVERYBODY IS TAKEN CARE OF. THEY’RE SUBCONTRACTED THROUGH THE CITY AND RESPOND WHEREVER THEY’RE NEEDED. BRANCHES ON TOP OF CARS. ON TOP OF BUILDINGS. I MEAN, YOU NAME IT, I’VE SEEN IT LIKE THIS. CALL ON KAY COURT IN THE GREENHAVEN NEIGHBORHOOD, WHERE A BIG BRANCH BROKE OFF THIS TREE, CRUSHING THE CAR BELOW. HONESTLY, I WAS JUST OVERWHELMED. I DIDN’T I DIDN’T REALLY KNOW WHAT TO THINK. THE CAR BELONGS TO MARIO VASQUEZ. HE SAYS HE HAD JUST STOPPED AT HIS FRIEND’S PLACE TO GRAB LUNCH AND WAS INSIDE WHEN THE BRANCH BROKE. I GOT HERE AROUND 2:00 AND BY THE TIME I WAS OUT AT LIKE 230, IT WAS THE THE TREE WAS ON TOP OF MY CAR. I CAN’T BE UPSET. IT’S. IT WAS OUT OF MY CONTROL. THE DAMAGE BECOMING CLEAR AS THE CHAINSAWS ROARED AND THE WOOD CHIPPER WENT TO WORK. THIS BIG BRANCH, LAURA SAYS, WAS ONE OF THE SMALLER CALLS THEY’VE HAD TODAY. ABOUT FIVE. AND THEN ANOTHER. AS MANY AS WE CAN DO PRETTY MUCH. AND THEY’LL KEEP GOING UNTIL THE STREETS ARE CLEARED. WE’LL BE BUSY ALL NIGHT. AND OBVIOUSLY A LOT OF TREES DOWN ACROSS THE CITY. IF YOU SEE ANY TREES THAT ARE BLOCKING PUBLIC ROADS OR SIDEWALKS, YOU CAN GO AHEAD AND CALL 311 FOR A CITY CREW TO COME CHECK IT OUT.
‘We’ll be busy all night,’ Sacramento crews work to clear downed trees and branches after strong winds
Strong winds in Sacramento caused trees and branches to fall, damaging cars and buildings, as crews worked tirelessly to clear the debris.
Updated: 11:16 PM PDT May 17, 2026
Strong winds swept through Sacramento on Sunday, toppling trees and branches that blocked streets and sidewalks and caused damage to cars and buildings, leaving crews to clean up the mess. Edgar Lara, part of a crew subcontracted through the city, said Sunday was hectic. “Branches on top of cars, on top of buildings. I mean, you name it, I’ve seen it,” Lara said. “Trying to clean the place up, making sure everybody is taken care of.” One call brought his crew to Quay Court in the Greenhaven neighborhood, where a large branch broke off a tree and crushed a car below. Mario Vasquez, the car’s owner, said he had just stopped at a friend’s house for lunch when the branch fell. “I got here around 2:00, and by the time I was out at, like 2:30, it was like… the tree was on top of my car,” Vasquez said. “Honestly, I was just overwhelmed. I didn’t really know what to think. I can’t be upset. Like it was out of my control.” Lara noted that the incident on Quay Court was one of the smaller calls they had responded to that day. “We’ve got about five and then another — as many as we can do. Pretty much,” Lara said. “We’ll be busy all night.” Residents are encouraged to call 311 if they see trees blocking public roads or sidewalks.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel | Make KCRA a preferred news source in Google
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
Strong winds swept through Sacramento on Sunday, toppling trees and branches that blocked streets and sidewalks and caused damage to cars and buildings, leaving crews to clean up the mess.
Edgar Lara, part of a crew subcontracted through the city, said Sunday was hectic.
“Branches on top of cars, on top of buildings. I mean, you name it, I’ve seen it,” Lara said. “Trying to clean the place up, making sure everybody is taken care of.”
One call brought his crew to Quay Court in the Greenhaven neighborhood, where a large branch broke off a tree and crushed a car below. Mario Vasquez, the car’s owner, said he had just stopped at a friend’s house for lunch when the branch fell.
“I got here around 2:00, and by the time I was out at, like 2:30, it was like… the tree was on top of my car,” Vasquez said. “Honestly, I was just overwhelmed. I didn’t really know what to think. I can’t be upset. Like it was out of my control.”
Lara noted that the incident on Quay Court was one of the smaller calls they had responded to that day.
“We’ve got about five and then another — as many as we can do. Pretty much,” Lara said. “We’ll be busy all night.”
Residents are encouraged to call 311 if they see trees blocking public roads or sidewalks.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel | Make KCRA a preferred news source in Google