High winds wreaked havoc on the central coast, knocking down trees, crushing homes and cars, and downing utility lines.
Major destruction ensued Tuesday night as winds peaked, but even on Wednesday storm conditions were unrelenting.
Strong gusts of wind caused a tree to fall into a home in Cambria. In Los Osos, several trees fell from a eucalyptus forest on another house.
“Last night the wind picked up and blew down a tree and knocked down about six other trees. They ended up in our front yard and in my wife’s car. Luckily we were inside and no one was hurt,” recalls homeowner Mark Alfirevic.
Aware of their closeness to nature, Alfirevic and his wife knew this was a possibility. They’ve even lost a few car windows to similar wind events over the years, but this was by far the most damaging.
“The collapse that came down at 8:30 p.m. last night destroyed the eve of the house. We lost our porch but otherwise very little damage to the house so we’re very happy,” he said.
Certified arborist Bill VanHorbek of the Bunyon Brothers Tree Service attributes these fallen trees to severe weather conditions.
“Before this year’s rains, we had a fairly extended drought that can cause trees to go into a downward spiral, becoming less healthy and experiencing root dieback,” he explained.
Combined with heavy rain that soaked the ground, the roots did not have as much grip, causing the trees to fail. Given the extreme weather events on the Central Coast, this was almost inevitable, according to VanHorbek.
Damaged roots also caused a tree to fall to the ground in San Luis Obispo, destroying two cars and the phone line.
“I know we’ve had winds of maybe 50 mph here and that could certainly be enough, but those roots were at risk,” explained Steve Franzmann, owner of the Greenvale Tree Company.
The tree was so large that it took a crane to pull it out of the wrecked car without sending the phone cords flying up.
According to the tree administration, a major problem is that these trees are already damaged in some way, whether it’s from improper planting or from severe weather.
At the Los Osos site, many of the trees were indeed marked for removal for this reason, but Mother Nature forestalled them.
For the remaining dead trees, the Bunyon Brothers Tree Service will begin removal again on Thursday. To avoid this problem, experts recommend contacting a professional arborist to have your trees checked. You can determine if you are at risk of tree loss.
www.ksby.com
https://www.ksby.com/news/local-news/falling-trees-cause-damage-to-homes-cars-and-utility-lines
