Trees Batter Houses in High Winds

As Patricia Babski slept soundly in her Garden Grove home early Sunday, two pine trees fell on the house, uprooted by winds that some officials called a tornado.

The trees buckled the roof, popping and shattering windowpanes. Babski was not injured.

Although weather officials were not so quick to call the strong winds a tornado, for Babski and others in her neighborhood, it sure seemed like one.

Babski’s was one of three homes whose residents were chased out by tree damage Sunday morning.

The winds, clocked at 40 to 50 mph, saddled residents with exhausting cleanup work, as broken boughs, fallen fruit and shattered glass lined the streets of many neighborhoods.

“We’re just digging out from under it,” said Les Jones, city director of public works, who fielded about 200 calls for service Sunday. “The majority of damage we have is trees and limbs that have fallen from trees.”

One of Babski’s pines--both estimated at about 70 feet tall--fell on the roof above her bedroom on Yana Drive. The impact covered her sheets with chunks of plaster and splinters of glass.

The other tree lodged over the living room of her gray tract house. Both trees were almost completely unearthed by the wind, leaving exposed roots and large, brown holes in the front lawn.

The weather that blew through Garden Grove also hit Seal Beach and Long Beach, according to meteorologist Miguel Miller of the National Weather Service.

Miller said the wind that hit Garden Grove about 4:30 a.m. was not a tornado.

“A tornado has to have air going around in a tight circulation,” Miller said.

Tornado or not, the storm was powerful enough to cause extensive damage, according to Capt. David Barlag, emergency services coordinator for Garden Grove. Barlag said he would have a dollar estimate of the damage this week.

Other areas in Orange County and Los Angeles also reported damage from the storm. Winds of 20 to 30 miles an hour will continue through Thursday.

Jeff House, meteorologist for WeatherData, which provides weather information to The Times, said rain swept through most of Orange County, but it was in small amounts. He said the heaviest was in Anaheim, with about a quarter of an inch.

The wind and rain were enough to keep tree service companies and residents on the move.

“I’m getting 10 calls an hour for tree removal, all from Garden Grove,” said Patricia Gruett, owner of Gruett Tree Co.

“What happens is that the rain loads the tops of the trees down with water and they’re top-heavy,” she said. “Then, when strong wind blows, the trees just fall.”

Residents reported patio furniture whisked more than 100 feet by the wind and tree branches that had snapped off and impaled car windows.

As many as 40,000 customers in Orange and Los Angeles counties were without power at various times because of damage from high winds, utility officials said. Officials said no other major damage from wind or rain was reported in other parts of Orange County.

The storm also had an emotional price.

Babski, 58, who would not talk to reporters, had to be coaxed out of her red-tagged home because she didn’t want to leave, according to city officials. Neighbors said Babski was found shaken inside.

“She got rattled pretty good,” said neighbor Art Bourbon. “I heard the trees go. I was asleep and then--Bam!--it sounded like a car wreck.”

The sign from Katella’s Liquor Store was ripped from its moorings and blew over a city block, landing in Jack Harb’s yard.

“My wife was screaming,” Harb said. “We thought it was an earthquake.”

On La Grand Avenue, wood chips flew and chain saws whined as residents tried unsuccessfully to save a wooden treehouse suspended in the crook of a precariously tilted Chinese elm.

“That treehouse has been up for over 20 years,” said Randy Bitts, 27, covered in wood chips and sawdust. “I remember playing in that treehouse when I was a kid. It’s pretty sad.”