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John Boss said he heard the crack around 8:00 a.m.  

Rushing outside, he saw his beautiful Ford Ranger – “not a blemish on it,” he later said – crushed by the massive, 100-year old cypress that had stood in his front yard. 

Many residents were inconvenienced by the 50 mile-per-hour wind gusts that swept through Berkeley Saturday morning. Some lost electrical service for a time, other people’s trees fell and some suffered damage to their property.  

Thankfully, though, not too many had to deal with a catastrophe on the scale that befell Boss. Not only was his truck totaled, but he lost a beautiful old tree he remembered walking past when he was a child. 

One person standing around on the street, looking at the ruins of Boss’ truck, asked him if insurance would cover it. 

“Well, we’re going to find out,” he said. 

Lt. Eric Gustafson of the Berkeley Police Department said that the police responded to numerous calls from all around the city early Saturday morning. 

“This usually happens with the first good storm of the season,” he said. “Trees come down, streets flood, the power goes out. Then, when the power comes back on, home alarms start to go off. 

“It’s always a very busy day.”