80-year-old woman dies in Northern California after porch collapses under feet of snow

Authorities in Northern California say an elderly woman recently died after turbulent weather caused the porch to collapse at her home in Foresthill, CBS Sacramento reported. The deadly accident came as winter storms continued to batter the western state this week, with the most recent one causing massive power outages and prompting officials to issue freeze warnings for Sacramento and the surrounding area.

The deceased woman was reportedly 80 years old at the time of her death. Neighbors found her after heavy snow in Foresthill — which is located in Placer County, northeast of California’s capital city — piled onto the porch of her home and caused it to cave in, according to CBS Sacramento. The neighbors were able to retrieve her from the wreckage, the station reported, adding that firefighters who responded to the scene discovered the woman in cardiac arrest when they arrived.

After the porch collapse, the woman was rushed to a hospital where she later died, CBS Sacramento reported. The Placer County Coroner intends to release the woman’s name, according to the station. 

CBS News contacted the Placer County Sheriff’s Office for more information about the woman’s death but did not receive an immediate reply. 

Alan Carlson, who lives on the woman’s Foresthill street, recalled seeing the rush of first responders to her home in comments to CBS Sacramento.

“We just saw the activity and knew it wasn’t good,” Carlson said. “We were just watching all the snow come down and it was just non-stop, and then the paramedics came in, and then a captain right after that.” 

Since about three feet of snow blanketed Foresthill over a 24-hour period, Carlson advised members of his community, “Make sure you shovel, keep the weight off, you know, because this is, we’ve got a lot of weight.”

Severe winter weather has affected regions across California since last week, causing widespread electrical outages and forcing officials to issue Southern California’s first blizzard warning in decades. In Boulder Creek, located in the mountains south of San Francisco, storms toppled a redwood tree onto a home and critically injured a 1-year-old child, KTVU reported.