Another scrape I had with some significant weather was not wind but rainfall. This was on an island off the west coast of Africa that was known for its annual rainy season, but this year even the locals were saying it was heavier than usual. The island is volcanic and it's highest elevation is just under 10,000 feet. The roadways were down closer to sea level. I drove to the airport early one morning with the rain pounding down like it had been for days and as I approached a bridge that crossed a river that drained the flow down the mountain, here comes a large tree, roots first that had obviously been flooded out somewhere up the mountainside and it hit the bridge knocking it off its center stanchion and on down toward the sea. Thankfully that tree had to good graces to crash the bridge while we were on the same side of the river as was our residences, and even more so not while we were on it. We turned around and headed back to see about a plan B as we thought this was the only road to the airport. Turned out there was another one but it required a slow, lengthy, very bumpy trip with a 4x4 through the jungle.