It’s a sound Ann Whitten said she’d never heard before, and it’s one she said she’ll never forget. On January 9, she and her husband Blair were in the bedroom of their Meiners Oaks home as the huge storm to hit the region was raging outside.
"He was asleep, and I was watching this movie, and it was pouring rain," said Whitten. "I heard this other sound, and I don't know why it registered, but I said it's a tree. I was by the window, so I tried to pull him off the bed, and I ended up on the floor."
Miraculously, the couple was unhurt, as were their three dogs. A more than 80 foot tall, 100 year old oak tree fell. It damaged the house, and demolished its adjacent garage.
The garage was completely demolished. They lost some vintage motorcycles, some antiques, and a number of other items. The remains of the tree are still on the wreckage, so they haven't been able to do a complete inventory.
As Whitten walks us back through the garage’s debris, she shows us a six-inch-wide tree limb that’s sticking out of the driveway.
"Look at that thing...it's stuck in the ground, like a missile out of the sky," said Whitten. "It's in there three feet deep."
The Whitten’s Poli Street neighborhood is beautiful, with giant oak trees everywhere. They’ve lived here for more than three decades, and some of the massive trees have fallen before. But, it doesn’t make what happened any less jarring.
It’s going to take tree trimming crews days to remove the massive tree. As Witten watches them work, she says it’s a reminder of how lucky they were.
"If it would have been five more feet...I don't know...I don't know." said Whitten. "It's kind of surreal...the tree gods were with us."
There are many more families in the region coping with the impacts of the recent storms, with mud, fallen trees, and water damage.
Public works crews are continuing to work overtime to clear debris basins, and other waterways before the next storm arrives.
It’s also been a long week for Caltrans crews. While some key highways are open, others like Highway 154 over San Marcos Pass, Highway 33 north of Ojai, and Highway 150 between Carpinteria and Ojai remain closed as of Wednesday morning.
