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Massive, 350-Year-Old Oak Tree Snaps, Crushes 7 Cars in California

The City of Pleasant Hill recognized a 350-year-old, massive oak tree as part of the heritage and named it Emma. Last week, a giant limb snapped off Emma and crushed 7 cars – and the city is refusing to cover any of the damage.
Heritage oak tree snaps, crushes 7 cars in Pleasant Hill, California 14 photos
Photo: ABC7
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According to homeowner Andra Cudd, speaking to ABC7, the moment she heard the thunder-like sound and the crash in the dead of night, she knew what had happened. As it turns out, everyone on her street knew the day would come when the tree would snap or fall down altogether, and they all feared the worst.

“So my husband and I jumped up, I'm like it's the tree it's the tree! It was so surreal when we opened the door,” Andra Cudd tells the media outlet.

Luckily, no one was hurt, but the giant limb did crush 7 cars on both sides of the street, 4 of them belonging to the Cudd family. Mr. Cudd still has some humor left to recognize the irony in the situation, as all his adult children had come over for a visit and parked their cars near the house. His own was parked farther down the road and was spared any damage by Emma.

Andra Cudd tells ABC7 that the City recognized the tree and refused to do anything about it until this accident. All of her petitions to trim it were denied except one, and neither she nor any other homeowner was allowed to cut it down.

Now that it snapped and caused so much damage, homeowners want the City to pay. Ironically, the City says that all costs for repair and clearing out the mess fall on the homeowners, since it was on their property that the accident happened.

They can have Emma cut down and removed, because this is clearly an emergency situation, but they will have to pay for that too.

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About the author: Elena Gorgan
Elena Gorgan profile photo

Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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