ORANGE : Tree Limb Crashes Into Apartment

Amy Hokanson got a rude awakening the other morning when a 50-foot limb from a tree outside her apartment snapped off with a horrible crack and plunged through her roof, narrowly missing her as she lay in bed.

“It sure did wake me up,” Hokanson, 77, recalled Thursday. “The tree almost fell on my bed. It would’ve killed me if my guardian angel hadn’t been working overtime.”

The massive limb snapped off an Indian laurel tree about 8 a.m. Wednesday, leaving a gaping hole in the roof over Hokanson’s apartment in the 300 block of South Orange Street.

The Indian laurel, estimated to be between 80 and 90 years old, had been designated by the city as a “historic tree.” The tree will be chopped down for safety reasons, officials said.

Residents living in the eight-unit apartment complex that surrounds the tree said they had heard strange creaking noises in recent days. As the noises increased in frequency and volume, they began to wonder.

“All night, I kept waking up because I was hearing this funny noise,” said Jackie Arrechea, 68, who lives next door to Hokanson. “I couldn’t figure it out, but I never thought to check the damn tree trunk.”

By Wednesday morning, the noises had turned to rumbling. Windows were shaking as residents thought they may be at the epicenter of a major earthquake.

“It sounded like someone was pounding on the windows as hard as they could,” said Kristi Calles, who lives near the tree. “I thought it was the Big One.”

Nobody was injured when the limb finally snapped off, damaging Hokanson’s apartment and a small portion of the apartment next door. Residents were evacuated as city work crews and private tree trimmers removed the limb with ropes and chain saws.

On Thursday morning, giant cross-sections of the limb were scattered throughout the courtyard of the U-shaped complex. About half the umbrella-like plume of the magnificent tree was gone, giving the tree an unbalanced and awkward appearance.

“It was a famous and wonderful tree,” said Lorna Greenhill, owner of the complex. The city “did approve its removal for safety’s sake.”

Greenhill said the tree would be gone by Monday. Hokanson will live with one of her daughters in Anaheim until the roof repairs are completed within the next two weeks.