A 60-year-old man was killed this morning by a falling tree as he drove to work on I-20 westbound near the DeKalb-Rockdale County line, the Rockdale
County Sheriff's Office reported.

Roy Arndt, 60, of Oxford, was crushed to death by a tree that fell on top of the 1998 Toyota Tacoma that he was driving. The accident, which happened around 6:20 a.m., shut down I-20 West between Sigman Road and Turner Hill Road for about two hours during the morning rush hour.

"We believe that it was a combination of the wind blowing and the rain that uprooted the tree and crashed on top of the vehicle," said Sheriff Eric
Levett.

Arndt is survived by his wife, Lynne; a daughter, Hannah; and a son, Gabriel, who is a guitar player for a local group.

The accident created a chain reaction of crashes as other motorists tried to avoid hitting the truck and the tree, Sheriff's officials said. No others were seriously injured in the accidents.

The Rockdale County Sheriff's Office Special Operations Unit is investigating the accident. The Georgia State Patrol assisted the Rockdale County Sheriff's Office.