After heavy rains, giant tree collapses on cars in Woodland Hills shopping center

Dorany Pineda
·2 min read
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LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 15: Damaged cars sit beneath a fallen tree at the El Camino Shopping Center on Mulholland Drive in Woodland Hills on Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023. The tree fell Satuday night trapping some people inside the cars. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Damaged cars sit beneath a fallen tree at the El Camino Shopping Center on Mulholland Drive in Woodland Hills on Sunday. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

The latest atmospheric storm that pummeled Southern California this weekend delivered another round of widespread damage — including toppled trees.

On Saturday evening, a giant tree fell at the El Camino Shopping Center on Mulholland Drive in Woodland Hills, crushing at least 10 vehicles and causing minor damage to a building lining the parking lot.

Some customers in the area told TV outlets that it felt like an earthquake when the tree fell.

The owner of one of the crushed cars told KCAL9 News that he was celebrating an anniversary at the Boiling Crab restaurant nearby when "we heard a loud commotion and felt a tremor." When he went outside to check, he discovered his vehicle underneath the fallen tree.

He said that the base of the tree had a sign stating it had termite issues, and that support beams were holding up the tree before it fell.

Another diner whose vehicle was damaged by the tree told ABC7 that he spotted a person in a crushed car when he went outside.

"We had to help him get out from the front of his windshield," Jordan Alvaraz said.

No serious injuries were reported.

An aerial view of a massive tree on top of cars in a parking lot
Damaged cars sit beneath a fallen tree at the El Camino Shopping Center on Mulholland Drive in Woodland Hills on Sunday. The tree fell Saturday night, trapping some people in the cars. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

Hundreds of people have been rescued since a series of winter storms battered California over the last few weeks, with at least 19 storm-related deaths, including that of a 5-year-old boy who was swept away in storm waters in San Luis Obispo County. His body has yet to be found.

Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom said the storms had claimed “more lives than wildfires in the past two years combined.”

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.