On the afternoon of July 1st, in Puyang City, Henan Province, suddenly a wind with gusts of over 7 levels blew, causing a tree with the thickness of a water bucket to be blown down by the roadside, hitting a middle-aged woman riding an electric scooter.
A video circulating online shows the uprooted tree lying across the auxiliary road, with an electric scooter nearby. According to Jiemu News, the incident took place on Shengli Middle Road in Puyang City. Some netizens commented that a woman around 40 years old was hit by the falling tree and did not survive.
Local residents near the scene stated that a whirlwind suddenly swept through the area at the time of the incident, causing a large poplar tree, with a trunk diameter of 40-50 centimeters and as thick as a water bucket, to fall and hit a woman riding an electric scooter.
Emergency responders in Puyang City revealed that the victim was a woman around 40 years old, stating, “She couldn’t make it, she passed away on the spot!”
At 4 p.m. that day, the Puyang City Meteorological Observatory issued a yellow warning for thunderstorms and strong winds, expecting that in the following 6 hours, areas such as Hualong District, Economic Development Zone, Demonstration Zone, Industrial Park, and their affiliated townships and streets in the city would be affected by thunderstorms with strong gusty winds reaching above level 7, accompanied by intense thunder and short-term heavy rainfall.
According to local netizens, “The wind came and went quickly, arriving suddenly. When the wind started, I was napping, and it shook the windows vigorously. As I hesitated whether to get up, I felt the wind gradually subsiding.”
The incident has sparked attention online. Many netizens expressed their opinions, with some saying, “The trees were planted too shallow. XX City’s park and forestry department didn’t dig deep enough. In our community, the trees are planted much deeper.” Others added, “The poplar trees on Shengli Road in Puyang have no root system. Several fall every year. No one takes care of them.”
Some also commented, “Poplar trees have underdeveloped root systems and grow fast.” “These are forty-year-old poplar trees that should have been cut down and replaced with new species long ago. When Puyang City was just established, there was no money or experience, so they planted the cheapest and easiest-to-survive poplar trees. The main harvesting period for northern poplar trees is 21 years. Over a decade ago, these trees were severely affected by pests and diseases, and now most are hollow and have aging root systems.” “If the large poplar trees on Shengli Road are not renovated, the risk of falling trees will persist.”