Downed trees causing major problems in North Bay

SAN GERONIMO, Calif. (KGO) -- Trees are down and one North Bay neighborhood is basically cut off as a result. It isn't the rain but the wind and wet soil causing the problems.

When a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound? No one is asking that question in Corte Madera on Tuesday night.

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A large crack and then a boom was heard in Corte Madera and now Kurt Trutner, along with his neighbor, must deal with it.

A large tree straddling both their properties landed on the house next door.



As Treemasters' Mike Querolo said, it was one call among many after high winds and gravity had their way with drought-weakened trees.

"This is very typical. We've had about 10 calls already and we are trying to get to them as quick as we can," Querolo said.

The tree carnage wasn't localized, it was regional. In Petaluma, several trees at once fell on a barn, killing a horse inside.

It caused no deaths or injuries.



Meantime, on Juniper Avenue in Marin County's San Geronimo area, Sheila Pampinin knows she dodged a bark-covered bullet.

"It is still a risk when you live in the forest, that is for sure," Pampinin said.

A 125-foot Douglas Fir fell only a few feet from her house. Neighbor Jack Gesheidt heard the crash. "Didn't know what it was. Knew it wasn't good, either a tree or a power line," he said.

How about both? Plus a blocked road to four houses behind.




Gesheidt is an environmental ist and nature photographer specializing in trees. "It is part of what happens with trees. Some of them come down and do damage. The trade-off is they do so much good for us overall," he said.

Work crews couldn't even get to the tree on Tuesday and will try again Wednesday, assuming the weather doesn't have any more surprises.

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