Anyone taking a hike up the Claremont Canyon fire trail recently will have seen that two neighboring Eucalyptus trees, located on the second stretch of path after the first hair-pin turn, were ripped from the ground, we assume by the high winds and rain Berkeley has been experiencing over the past few days.

The trees fell directly across the path, but tree cutters have been out to chop them into more manageable pieces ahead of removing them from the site.

Tracey Taylor is co-founder of Berkeleyside and co-founder and editorial director of Cityside, the nonprofit parent to Berkeleyside and The Oaklandside. Before launching Berkeleyside, Tracey wrote for...