A death reported in Oakland's Lake Merritt area is likely tied to Tuesday's storm that wreaked havoc across the Bay Area.
Firefighters said crews responded to a report of a tree that fell onto a tent with a possible person inside. Police on scene confirmed a man was inside the tent and appeared to have been stuck by the fallen tree. The man when found was not breathing and not conscious. He was pronounced dead just before 6 p.m., officials said.
“They have him under John Doe,” said Lynder Quilter of Oakland.
But those who knew him say the man who lost his life was much more than the nameless unhoused individual who lost his life in a storm.
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Friends say his name is Tyrone Butler from Louisiana. They said he loved to play the piano and go to church.
“He was a very loving young man and I want everyone to always remember him as not just a homeless person but an individual, a human being like all of us,” said Quilter.
Friends said Butler had just applied for a job at the city and was working to transition off the streets. On Wednesday, those frustrated friends feel like the city should’ve been doing more to help the unhoused.
“They focus on everything else instead of what they really need to be focused on, the homeless,” said Quilter. “Help the people that really need help.”
While the Lake Merritt trees were the city's worst issue, they were far from the city's only problem.
Damage and downed trees can be found across the city. In Rockridge, downed trees blocked traffic and destroyed a parked vehicle.
“It's unreal, it could’ve been on our house,” said Kambiz Mahrefshar. “I was driving up and down the street, I saw this cedar bend and break .. take out the car, and our maple tree.”
In fact, the city says it's responding to more than 200 calls for tree emergencies.
“This was an accident waiting to happen,” said Sakhone Lasaphangthong of the Family Bridges Ambassador Program.
Community ambassadors took their own tools to remove fallen trees including one that fell onto an empty car on Webster Street blocking traffic.
“We know and understand that there is downed trees and other public hazards everywhere else so for us our mission is if we are able to do it, we will do it,” said Lasaphangthong. “We are not going to wait for the city to do it because we don’t know when they are going to come by.”
NBC Bay Area reached out to the city but have not heard back on how long it will take to clean up all the damage.
