Storm Knocks Down 30,000 Pound Tree Onto Berkeley Home
BERKELEY (KPIX 5) -- The wind that whipped through the East Bay hills Friday evening did not just knock over a tree in Berkeley, it ripped it completely from its roots.
"Sometimes, when the winds are incredibly high, they fall over and take a bunch of roots and soil with them and create a big crater in the ground. Which is what happened here," said Michael Veneziano of Ponderosa Tree Service.
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The 90-foot pine fell across two backyards before coming to rest atop the home that Thomas Vong rents out to tenants.
"I thought, I'm living in Jurassic Park," Vong told KPIX 5.
The tree weighs about 30,000 pounds. It crashed down with such force that it punctured the roof of part of the home. Workers were out here patching it up Friday, they won't be able to remove the tree until Saturday.
"I'm glad no one was hurt. No pets were hurt, no humans were hurt," Vong said.
No one was hurt earlier on Friday over in Alamo, when wind sent a large tree toppling onto parked cars outside a Starbucks. Firefighters had to saw the tree into pieces.