[Mrs. Don-o]

This can and does indeed happen. Redwoods have extensive but surprisingly shallow root systems: think of a thumbtack sitting on its barely dirt-covered base. If the ground is saturated and soft, and a big wind comes up, it will tip the trees. If one tips far enough to fall, its upended roots will dislodge pother trees' overlapping and likewise shallow roots, and a whole row can go down.

Not an everyday occurrence, but common enough.

[PeteB570]

That is the worry in our neck of the woods when a tropical storm or hurricane moved in. Lots of rain prior to the arrival of the winds soaks the ground and isolated trees get pushed over when the winds show up.

[Openurmind]

A similar thing even happens in the desert. After a good soak in rain you do not want to be out hiking where there are a lot of Cholla cactus above you and have the wind kick up. It will rain Cholla limbs on you. And they bounce around like superballs. Not lethal, but it can be very seriously incapacitating.

They soak up the water and the limbs get heavy enough for the wind to break them off in mass, this is how they propagate.