A giant eucalyptus tree landed right in the living room of an RV along Old Highway 80 Tuesday killing a 58 year old woman. Her neighbors, whose homes were also damaged by the falling tree, barely escaped injury and feel lucky to be alive.
Just after 3 p.m., residents in the RV park heard the wind howl and felt a rumbling.
"I had just let my awning back in and came in my house took wet clothes off. All of a sudden the trailer started leaning toward the right," said resident Carl Golden. "I kicked open the door and the tree come all the way across me and smashed the lady next door's."
Golden said when he saw the tree fall, he immediately started hollering for his neighbor because he knew she was home at the time.
Another neighbor, Mercedes Cox, was in her bedroom when the tree hit her home. The entire trailer shook, her heater fell over and she got out as quickly as she could.
“The shaking felt like an earthquake, like a real serious earthquake. But the ‘boom’ made it feel like it was something on top,” said Mercedes Cox.
Cox lived right next door to the woman killed and couldn’t believe her friend’s home was crushed by the huge tree.
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”She was a good friend of mine. We talked all the time,” said Cox. “I’m in shock about it.”
Golden said if he hadn't kicked to door open, he would've been trapped inside his home.
Firefighters used chainsaws to cut through the tree, described as between four and five feet thick, hoping to reach the woman believed to be trapped inside. Later, after the woman's body was located, crews brought in a large crane to help remove the tree from the area.
The victim was identified as Linda Flick, 58.
This was the most serious storm damage reported in the county but from Oceanside to the South Bay, residents reported downed trees and power lines. SDG&E reported that tens of thousands of people spent most of Tuesday afternoon without power.
The city of San Diego also reported that they had to order thousands of sand bags to replenish the supply available to residents.
