ST. LOUIS — A 33-year-old woman died Saturday after a massive walnut tree fell and crushed her vehicle during an intense storm, and neighbors have questions about how long it took to reach 911 dispatchers and for first responders to arrive.Ìý
A severe storm hit the ºüÀêÊÓƵ metro area around 4 p.m. The woman was in her car, parked in a small lot off an alleyway, behind a house in the 4100 block of Chouteau Avenue. The tree was in the backyard of a historic home, near The Grove entertainment district.Ìý
Police on Monday identified the victim as Katherine Coen of the 4100 block of Manchester.
Helen Petty, who owns a hair salon facing Manchester Avenue and shares the alleyway, posted on Twitter that people had tried to call 911 for help multiple times, but got busy signals or no response for at least 30 minutes. She told the Post-Dispatch that residents of an apartment building next to her salon use the parking lot where Coen was killed.
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Petty, a former aldermanic candidate in Ward 5, said firefighters had reached Coen when she arrived about 4:45 p.m.Ìý
Police said Coen was pronounced dead at the scene. By 7 p.m., ºüÀêÊÓƵ police and firefighters had left and the clouds cleared. The tree, partially sawed up, was still laying on the crumpled car. A pair of pink flip flops remained in the driver's side floorboard.
The towering walnut tree was in the backyard of a nearly 130-year-old home. Nobody was living at the home, which had been split into two apartments and renovated, said neighbor Eddie Allen. He has been living in a small brick house next door since 1975.Ìý
Allen said he worried about the tree, which stood just on the other side of his backyard's wooden fence. He was concerned it would fall on his house, though he never complained to anyone about it because it wasn't on his property. He said he heard the tree crash down during the storm.
A spokesman for Mayor Tishaura O. Jones said her office is looking into the situation, but declined to immediately comment further Saturday night.
This story has been updated to include the victim's age.Ìý