Balboa Park was back open Friday after a rare decision to close the public space amid destructive Santa Ana winds that left a mess of toppled trees, including one massive eucalyptus tree that collapsed on a woman and injured her.
San Diego crews were working throughout the day Friday to clear debris -- a process the city said could take weeks -- but pedestrians were being allowed to walk through the Prado area of Balboa Park on Friday.
It was the first time since the 90s the park was shut down due to weather-related reasons.
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The move came after a eucalyptus tree was uprooted and fell on top of a woman sometime before 8 a.m. near the intersection of Balboa Drive and El Prado. According to the San Diego Police Department, the woman suffered minor injuries in the incident.
The roughly 80-to-90-foot tree was on its side as onlookers gawked at the tree. Images from the scene showed at least one ambulance and stretcher spotted on site.
"We’re in amazement," said Jeff Davidson, who was walking with a friend in the area at the time. "I mean, we literally went down, turned around and came and then we saw this. I told my friend, I said, ‘That could have been you.’"
Shortly after, the city said it was advising the public to stay out of Balboa Park until the winds are over. All museums were closed and police blocked road access into the park, Jose Ysea, the city PIO told NBC 7. The San Diego Zoo and the Old Globe Theatre were still open.
As of 4 p.m., there were 36 downed trees in Balboa Park -- all in the 80- to 100-foot range. The city said they had not seen that many trees collapse in 20 to 30 years. There are over 18,000 trees in Balboa Park and Ysea estimates it may take weeks to clean up the damage.
Other public spaces were also closed due to toppling trees. Chollas Lake, the Balboa Park Municipal Golf Course and Presidio Park were also back open Friday.
All lanes in the transition ramp from the northbound State Route 163 ramp to northbound Interstate 5 were also closed due to a downed tree, Caltrans advised. The roadway has since reopened.
The destruction came while San Diego County was under a high wind warming in the mountains and valleys and a wind advisory elsewhere. During that time, the strongest winds were expected to be in the 45 mph range with some gusts up to 75 mph. The warnings expired on Thursday.
NWS warned these Santa Ana winds can potentially lead to power outages. At a little after 11 a.m., San Diego Gas & Electric's outage map web page showed nearly 7,500 customers without power everywhere from North County to the border.
Already, the windy conditions have canceled classes for the Mountain Empire Unified School District for Thursday and flipped two big rigs on Interstate 8.
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