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Tree Crashes Down Onto Car & School Bus, Blocks Road

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- High winds caused damage across the area Tuesday, with reports of downed trees from Allegheny County to Beaver County.

A tree crashed down, blocking a busy road in Squirrel Hill around school dismissal time. It hit a car and two school buses on Shady Avenue, across from The Children's Institute.

The giant tree brought down power lines with it. Some of the live wires landed right at the entrance to The Children's Institute, preventing everyone from leaving on time.

"No one was hurt at all," said Tom Bitner, the vice president of operations at The Children's Institute. "Obviously, there was damage to a couple of the school vans, but no one was hurt. It caused a pretty significant back up of departure from school and people in and out of our facility."

The good news is that there were no children on the parked school buses to the time.

However, a driver was on one of the buses. He was parked on the side of the road waiting for a student to board.

"All of a sudden we heard this crashing noise, and I was just waiting to see when it's going to crush me as well," said the bus driver who only wanted to be identified as Mr. Belobrajdic.

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(Photo Credit: KDKA)
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(Photo Credit: KDKA)

The man driving the car wasn't hurt either. John Clarke, 74, of Homestead, says there was just something that told him to slam on his brakes.

"If you don't believe there's a heaven, a god, I really feel for you because, right now, in this instance, I believe, truly, with all my heart, there is," Clarke said.

Duquesne Light crews eventually cut the power to the downed lines and clean-up started.

While no one was injured when the tree fell, officials say an officer directing traffic on Wilkins Avenue was hit by a car. The officer appeared to be unhurt, but was being checked out by a doctor as a precaution. The driver who hit the officer stayed at the scene.

Elsewhere in the city, a large tree fell at the intersection of Christmas Way and Chambers Way in Greefield. It landed in the property of the Squirrel Hill Christian Church. There's no word yet on if anyone was injured.

Another tree came crashing down along Crane Avenue in Beechview.

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(Photo Credit: KDKA)

A tree also fell onto Route 65 in Glen Osborne Borough, closing the road between McKnown Lane and Hazel Lane around 3:30 p.m.

No one was injured, but traffic had to be detoured around the area.

Over in Beaver County, emergency officials say the high winds brought down a number of trees there, too. There were no injuries, but there was property damage.

One large tree came down in a parking lot on Sheffield Avenue in Aliquippa.

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(Source: KDKA Viewer Daniel Rolsma)

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