A Bucks County 2-year-old was killed by a tree in an ‘unforeseen act of nature’
Strong winds were making their way through the area as storms neared.
The victim of a fatal weather-related incident in Bucks County on Saturday was a toddler, according to Lower Southampton Township Police.
Detective Sgt. Douglas Heiduck said the incident took place at around 4:15 p.m.
The 2-year-old boy, whose name is being withheld, was outside in his backyard with his mother and older sibling “when sudden strong winds swept through the area,” according to Bucks County Coroner Meredith J. Buck.
A tree split and a section at least 25 feet long, 8 inches in diameter came down. Heiduck said the tree “tragically struck, causing severe trauma” to the boy who was pronounced dead at the scene. His mother and sibling were unharmed.
Buck ruled the boy’s cause of death a head injury, calling the manner of death accidental.
“This horrible tragedy was an unforeseen act of nature,” said Buck.
Though the region was hit with some heavy rains Saturday with gusts exceeding 50 mph, no storms in Bucks County fell under the severe thunderstorm category, failing to reach 58 mph and/or inch-diameter hail.
“It does look like we had some high winds ahead of the storms,” Matt Brudy, meteorologist at the National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly, said, reporting 10 to 30 mph gusts ahead of the heavy rain that followed.