With winds gusting over ridges at more than 125 mph, more than a half dozen trees around town fell across roads and on houses Friday.

“This time of year we get these big storms, but the ground isn't that wet yet.” said Ed Cook, owner of Ed Cook Tree Removal service, as he worked to remove a tree that had fallen across a house on Anita Drive Friday morning. “That's why this is a little surprising.”

By 10 a.m. Friday morning, Cook already had four calls where trees had fallen on houses and even more where trees appeared about to fall, he said. The police department also received calls of downed trees across roads and power lines.

On Anita Drive, a tree more than 4-feet in diameter had fallen, damaging three houses in its path. The bulk of the trunk rested on the middle house. No one was home at any of the houses when the tree crashed into the buildings.

“Of course I've seen worse,” Cook said. “But this is pretty bad.”

Neighbors said they heard a crash over the roar of the wind around 3:30 a.m.

“The wind was blowing so much it sounded like a big truck coming through and then there was just a big crunch,” said Carroll Jones, who lives nearby.

Across the street, neighbor Phil Gurian said the noise woke him up.

“I could see something laying across the house,” he said.

The middle house was extensively damaged. The roof was caved in over the front porch and branches pierced through the roofing, even sticking into some furniture inside the house. Insulation was exposed and an upper window was broken.

The tree, a 150-year-old Jeffrey Pine, weighed in excess of 30,000 pounds and was more than 80 feet tall. The roots of the tree were rotten, causing it to fall, Cook said. It took Cook's staff two hours to cut the tree into sections and remove it from the house with a crane.

“All the bark was okay,” cook said. “It wasn't until it fell that you could see what was on the inside.”