North Highlands man and ill wife fear tree may come crashing down on their home
NORTH HIGHLANDS - A man and his ill wife in North Highlands have been sleeping in the living room fearing a large tree will come crashing down into their home.
"It could be a life-threatening thing," said Rudy Verdoorn.
The tree in question was there when they moved into Antelope Manufactured Home Community mobile home park 30 years ago. The intense rain and wind from earlier this week now have the tree leaning in a direction that is just too close for comfort.
The roots are lifted out of the ground, branches resting on the awning, and you can clearly see the tree leaning from the street.
"We just stay in the living room, use the restroom on the other side and cook over there," said Rudy.
This tree is just another trouble for Rudy and his wife, Janet, who is battling a lung disease.
"She has a condition called Alpha One," said Rudy. "It is a lung disease, and we are trying to do a lung transplant. She is right on the tip of being put on the list."
Janet is on oxygen 24-hours a day, and now the two cannot even sleep in their bedroom.
"With this going on as well it just her stress level is just out the roof and it is not good because she can get sick," Rudy said.
Local tree removal companies told CBS13 the past few months have been extremely busy with removing fallen and at-risk trees.
Rudy does not own the 60-foot tree, so he cannot hire a private tree company to remove it.
Instead, he is depending on the management of the mobile home park.
"They keep coming out and taking pictures, but I do not know how many pictures they really need," said Rudy. "The management is doing great. They are doing everything they can. It is just the management above them it just seems like they either don't care or it just doesn't bother them."
CBS13 went to the property's office and called both the managers. They had no comment on how soon the tree would be removed.
This is not the first tree that has fallen on the property. The tree beside Rudy's landed on his next-door neighbor's house during the January storms.
"It just shakes me up. There is no sense in getting mad about it because that is not going to change anything, but I would just like for them to remove it," said Rudy.
He has considered staying in a motel but said it is too challenging to move his wife with her oxygen tank and medications, plus they have three dogs. They are bracing for the tree's fall, but hoping something can be done to prevent it.