A 'bomb cyclone' brought strong winds and heavy rain that wreaked havoc throughout the City of Alameda and Northern California Tuesday evening. The Alameda Fire Department, Alameda Municipal Power (AMP) and other city personnel spent most of Tuesday responding to the damage caused by the severe weather system.

Alameda firefighters cleared fallen trees and power lines throughout the city. Multiple homes and vehicles were damaged by fallen trees. A tree struck a vehicle traveling down Central Avenue at Page Street which trapped and injured the driver of the car. Firefighters rescued the driver by removing large portions of the tree to gain access to the vehicle, then extricated the patient from the crushed vehicle using heavy extrication equipment. Central Avenue was closed to vehicle traffic for several hours, but was reopened around 8 p.m., according to AC Alert. The southbound lane on Island Drive was also closed due to a large tree in the median.

A fallen tree damaged the children's playground at McKinley Park (2165 Buena Vista Ave.). City officials warned residents to stay out of all parks until further notice.

More than 200 people had their power wiped out due to the bomb cyclone, according to AMP. AMP said 160 customers in the Fortmann/Clement/Buena Vista area, 30 customers along Hawthorne Street and 50 customers in the Pacific/Chestnut/Grand area experienced power outages. AMP was able to restore all power to each of these areas around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.

To report a fallen tree, contact APD dispatch at 510-337-8340.

The term bomb cyclone came from the meteorological term "bombogenesis," which refers to the central pressure of a low-pressure system dropping at least 24 millibars within 24 hours, according to the Weather Channel. The bomb cyclone developed off the coast of San Francisco Tuesday when the atmospheric pressure dropped 24 millibars in 17 hours, producing the strongest March storm ever recorded in the Bay Area.