Wind Storm Damage 10-27-09

Rick & Sandy Van Mell
1629 Begen Avenue
Mountain View, CA 94040
650-962-1515
Claim # 1014923028

Pictures of fallen 70' Liquidambar blown down at 3:00 pm on Tuesday, October 27, 2009. Pictures taken between 3:05 & 3:45 on 10/27, until otherwise noted..

With wind gusts in the 30 - 40 mph range, a neighbor had stopped at the door to say there was a crack in the tree. Sandy went out and saw it, and came back in to get me. As we left the back room to go see, it came crashing down. Thirty seconds later we could have been standing where it fell.

Mountain View Forestry was at the house about an hour and a half after it fell, and granted us a permit to remove the remains of the tree. Since it was 66" in circumference, it is a designated "heritage tree" (over 54") and needs a permit to be removed. Steve & Bill also recommended TruGreen LandCare for the job, - "call Ray," they said.

About an hour after the tree came down, a cable from an I-bar patch on the Bay Bridge broke, shutting down the bridge for two days. Thursday's paper (10/29) said engineers believed that wind related stresses contributed to the failure.

Ray arrived 8:20 Wednesday morning and we had an estimate by 1:15 which we forwarded to Farmers along with these pictures, and scheduled TruGreen for this (Thursday) morning at 8:00 am.

Right on time they set to work, and by noon the roof was clear. Great work ethic. They put safety cones over the landscaping lights, and lowered branches down gently one at a time. Sections of limbs were cut and fitted as props under the heaviest main trunk so there would be no additional load on the roof or gutter as branches were cut away.

We had also asked TruGreen to trim up an overgrown cypress tree that was under the liquidamber. They did a spectacular job.

The Farmers adjuster arrived , as scheduled, at 1:30 pm. We had a check before 2:00 pm for the tree removals and gutter replacement (less deductible, of course). TruGreen cleaned up and departed with our check at 3:00 pm.

Boy, do we have more blue sky in the front yard! The front gutters, and a small crack in the sidewalk were the only remaining damage. Other than the cherry tree, all plants came through OK. The yard lights are repositioned and working, the halloween lights are back up, and the sprinkler systems gave all the plants a drink. Thank you cheery tree for saving the house. We were really, really lucky.

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Full view
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PICT6894
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Remaining trunk
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PICT6896
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PICT6897
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PICT6898
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Remains of cherry tree
sticking up
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PICT6900
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PICT6901
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Along garage toward
front door
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Over garage
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Over solar panels
(taken on roof)
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Over garage
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Cherry tree
supporting weight
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Bent gutter under
this branch
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PICT6909
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PICT6910
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View out front door
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View out porch
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View out along garage
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Only debris on car
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Garage entrance
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Across sidewalk
taken 10/28 8 am
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Bent gutter area
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closer view
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PICT6920
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Trunk of cherry &
broken branch
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Missed the lights!
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Thank you cherry tree!
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Sidewalk crack
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Thursday morning ...
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chipping begins
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George & Teak watch
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Bucket truck
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the scene
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Sizing up the cypress
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Cherry base
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Outlet is OK
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PICT6939
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Inside cypress
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big job
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Cones over lights
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Proping up
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nice job
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Going aloft
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Hauling off
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More props
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Roof clearing
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One stick at a time
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PICT6954
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PICT6956
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Very dense
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Up in cypress
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PICT6959
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Cleared stones
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Sidewalk crack
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Corner bends
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Clear, but bent
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PICT6965
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More dents
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Clearing the corner
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Dents
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Looking open
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PICT6972
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Cherry tree broke
the fall
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PICT6975
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Big sticks
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Cutting last on roof ...
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airborne
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Lunch
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Roof cleared
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Stump time
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PICT6984
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PICT6990
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Right next to light
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Getting last branch
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PICT6985
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One by one
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Cutting break ...
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easy ...
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gently lowered.
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One round ...
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next round ...
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bottom rounds.
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Shaping up cypress
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all sides
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PICT6998
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Blowing clean
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Liquidambar stump
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Clean up time
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Javier - good job!
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Looks wide open!
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New blue sky
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Plants survived
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Gutter is the ...
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only casualty ...
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about 50' worth.
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Mock orange OK
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Very nice
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Happy Halloween!