Tree damages car after windstorm

By Hayley Day • January 22, 2018 12:30 pm

Josh Boland, of Friday Harbor, woke on Sunday, Jan. 21, to a knock on his door — not the sound of the tree that fell onto his new SUV.

“Strangely, I didn’t hear a thing,” he said.

The knock was from a neighbor, notifying Boland that his Toyota RAV4 had been hit by a fallen tree. The high winds, which ripped through the islands that morning and the previous night, must have drowned out the sound of the crash, said Boland.

He had purchased the vehicle, just about four months prior.

“I was just beginning to like it,” he said.

According to the Seattle office of the National Weather Service, around 6 a.m. that morning, winds reached up to 36 mph and gusts to 53 mph in Friday Harbor. High gusts started as early as 10 a.m. on Jan. 20 and continued into the next day until about noon.

The tree in front of the Wisteria Court apartment complex, where Boland lives, split into three. Two sections toppled the development’s fence, and one of those hit Boland’s vehicle and two others. The other vehicles did not appear to have the same amount of damage as Boland’s SUV.

The neighbor, whose vehicle was also under the fallen tree, notified Boland at around 7:30 a.m., on Jan. 21.

Bolan said he is glad the tree didn’t fall backward, onto the apartments, and that no one was injured. Insurance will cover the cost of a replacement and his sister offered to help until he has a new ride.

“I got my car about a week after he bought his,” said Boland’s sister Jessi. “I’ll let him use mine until he gets a new one.”