Shortly before noon, a redwood tree toppled over, crashing onto a two-story home on West Baltimore Avenue, doing moderate damage. The person who was inside is described as an elderly woman. She was home at the time, but taken to a neighbor's house shortly after. She was not hurt.
The tree, which was across the street from the home, took out several power and phone lines. PG&E is telling neighbors that once the tree is cut and out of there, they will install new lines. The goal is to have power restored by 8 p.m.
Neighbors say they heard a big bang when the tree fell on the house. Many were surprised to see this happened, especially because we've had no rain.
"The lack of root development and with the water rinsing down year after year toward the base of root has promoted decay," said certified arborist Robert Morey.
"I heard this big bang and it was really, really loud and of course all of the lights went out," neighbor Jay Shelhart said.
Fellow neighbor Theresa Kaul added, "It felt earth movement. The house moved. I had no idea, trees don't usually sound like that."
About 70 customers are without power. Neighbors say they really want to have power restored soon because they know it's supposed to be a very cold night.
