Extreme winds and rain cause chaos and damage north state communities.

As the first major winter storm to hit California tore through our area, many awoke to a chaotic scene outside. Winds clocked at 43 mph and higher raged through the north state, downed tree limbs, fences, even snapped street signs and power poles.

One family’s harrowing experience left 6-year-old Daisy Gonzales so terrified, she was unable to sleep throughout the night. During the early evening hours of Tuesday, January 26^th as the storm really began to beat down on our community, the Gonzales home got a shock. Daisy’s mother, who requested to remain anonymous, recounts the evenings scare.

She says their home was shaking and rattling violently because the storm. About 8:30, just after she and her daughter had gone to bed frightened by the noise of the storm, a deafening crash shook the house so hard it felt like it jumped off its foundations. She says, “Like an earthquake!”

Luck had been with them that night. A tree that stood outside the corner of their home had fallen - literally snapped off at the base, right next to where they had been laying. Daisy and her mother had tucked-in for the evening in the front bedroom when branches of the tree came crashing into the front of the house and slammed into the ground outside.  The tree lay parallel to the front of their home, blocking entrance to their front door, across their walkway and most of their front yard.  If it had fallen almost any other way, it could have crushed through the roof of the home and injured one of the 7 family members inside. Daisy, says her mother, was inconsolable, shaking, crying, and repeating “I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die…”

The home sustained some damage from where the tree struck the front porch and gutters, but luckily, no one was hurt - just a little shook-up.

Many other area residents encountered the same thing. Ominous noises from the high winds, large limbs or even full trees down in yards, blocking driveways, some branches even falling atop cars. Reports even claim that run-away trampolines were seen blown out of people back yards, along with other children’s play equipment and the occasional lawn chair.

According to the National Weather Service, the storm will continue to pummel our area until Saturday, January 30^th. For up-to-date information on warnings, watches and alerts, please visit  the National  page at: https://forecast.weather.gov/wwamap/wwatxtget.php?cwa=STO&wwa=all.