wa. girl killed in christmas day accident

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Wa. Girl Killed in Christmas Day AccidentPublished on Dec 26, 2011 by AssociatedPress

VIDEO - Wa. Girl Killed in Christmas Day Accident

A nine year old girl in Washington was killed while riding in an SUV with her familySunday when the car was struck by a tree. The accident happened after a blast ofwindy weather blew through the region. (Dec. 26)

TRAGIC CHRISTMAS DAY ACCIDENT ON WHIDBEY ISLANDKills one child, injures one adult

December 26, 2011

(WHIDBEY ISLAND, WA) -- It is difficult if not impossible for many people to makesense out of such a tragic, freak accident occurring on Christmas day of all days. Afamily loaded up in the SUV, presents on board and headed from Langley to the southend of Whidbey Island to enjoy Christmas day like millions of other American families.And then in the blink of an eye a tragedy strikes that no one could have seen coming.

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A 9-year old girl was killed Sunday afternoon when a huge and very heavy tree branch,more like a small tree than branch, fell in a windstorm at the south end of WhidbeyIsland and crashed on top of the 2006 Ford Explorer in which she was riding.

The state patrol says the branch, about a foot in diameter and likely weighing in the

hundreds of pounds, sheared off of a tree in that windstorm as the vehicle was passingat that precise moment under the tree.

The limb came crashing down on top of the SUV with such force it caused theundercarriage of the vehicle to hit and scrape along the pavement.

The accident happened about 12:50 pm as the vehicle was traveling eastbound onBailey Road where it meets Cultas Bay Road, not far from one end of Cultas Bay.

Killed in the accident was 9-year old Tobiah Z. Leonard of Clinton, Washington who wasriding in the right rear of the SUV when the branch hit.

Injured and taken to airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle was her fatheridentified as Timothy H. Leonard, 41, of Langley, Washington.

The SUV was totaled by the falling branch.

Not injured enough for hospitalization was the driver Julie Janeshefskie, 42, of Clinton,the mother of Tobiah Leonard.

Also not injured to the point where hospitalization was required were passengersTamara S. Leonard, 18, of Clinton and 12-year old Wren L. Leoshefskie also of Clinton.

Wind gusts on the island Sunday were in the 50 mph range. For hardwood trees, suchas oak, maple, birch and ash, a three-second gust of 74 mph will break large (greaterthan 1 inch) branches, 91 mph will uproot trees, and 110 mph will snap tree trunks.

For softwood trees such as pine, spruce, fir and hemlock, a three-second gust of 75mph will break large branches, 87 mph will uproot trees, and 104 mph will snap treetrunks. These are not absolute numbers but a value near the middle of the range ofminimum wind speeds expected to cause the damage.



See: See: Whidbey and Camano Islands - http://www.whidbeycamanoislands.com/

ON AVERAGE 31 PEOPLE A YEAR DIE IN SIMILAR ACCIDENTS

There were 407 deaths caused by wind related tree failures in the United States during1995-2007, an average of 31 per year, according to data gathered and analyzed byKent State University which examined the hazard posed by trees to human health andlife during severe weather. The raw data came from the National Climatic Data Centerwhich tracks information on storm fatalities in the United States.

These tree & wind caused deaths occurred in 41 states and the District of Columbia. Ofthe 407 known deaths caused by wind-related tree failure during 1995-2007, thelocation of the victim (such as in vehicle, outdoors, in house) was known for all 407deaths, age was known for 96 percent), and sex was known for 96 percent.

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http://www.whidbeycamanoislands.com/



Most (62 percent) of the victims were male with a median age of 44 years. Forty-fourpercent were struck by a fallen tree or limb while in a vehicle, 38 percent were struckoutdoors, and 18 percent were struck while in their home – half in a mobile home andhalf in a frame house.

Most incidents involved a single death, however, two fallen trees caused four deathseach. A falling tree struck a school bus carrying 10 children during a nonconvective highwind event in Queens, New York City, on March 6, 1997, killing four and injuring six.

A tree fell on a vehicle in Yakima County, Washington, on August 26, 1997, killing allfour occupants. This event is listed as a “high wind” in Storm Data, although otherdamaging events that day are listed as “thunderstorms.” The discussion belowexamines deaths based on the type of severe weather that caused the fallen trees.

Thunderstorm winds

The deaths occurred in 11 states from Texas to Vermont and all occurred within 200miles of the coast. North Carolina had the most deaths with 14.



Deaths occurred only in the months of July through October, with a peak (58 percent) inSeptember, corresponding with the tropical cyclone season in the North Atlantic. Treesmay be especially vulnerable to uprooting or breakage during the winds of tropicalcyclones due to the heavy rains that may weaken the soil strength. An additional factoris the existence of dense tree canopies on deciduous trees during the tropical cyclone

season. The wind force placed on the canopies increase the likelihood of tree failure.

Source: http://www.skyvalleychronicle.com/FEATURE-NEWS/TRAGIC-CHRISTMAS-DAY-ACCIDENT-ON-WHIDBEY-ISLAND-br-Kills-one-child-injures-one-adult-861263

http://www.skyvalleychronicle.com/FEATURE-NEWS/TRAGIC-CHRISTMAS-DAY-ACCIDENT-ON-WHIDBEY-ISLAND-br-Kills-one-child-injures-one-adult-861263




wa. girl killed in christmas day accident

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