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Huge Tree Falls On Two Homes In Brookline

BROOKLINE (CBS) – Hurricane Sandy brought down trees and wires across Massachusetts Monday.

Anika Goldman was skeptical about what Sandy's impact would be in her south Brookline neighborhood.

"We were very cynical. Oh, there's nothing going on. He went to work today," she said pointing to her husband Marty Krakowsky.

That cynicism turned to shock; a gust knocked over a huge tree in their backyard on Payson Street. The root ball at least 6 feet in diameter.

"It felt like there was an earthquake when it was rumbling and I'm just so happy that it feel that way and not on top of us," Goldman said. "Had it fallen right here, I don't know if we'd be here right now." She and her sons were just inside the back door watching TV.

There is damage in the family's attic. "You can see the tree poking in there," Krakowsky said as he pointed to where a limb punched a hole in the roof. Next door, the upper limbs hit the neighbor's house and broke an attic window. It didn't knock out power and everyone agreed, a shift in wind could've made this a lot worse. "The firefighters have been here and said it was a perfect fall because it went between the two houses instead of on one or the other," he explained.

Throughout the evening, wind and rain pounded Brookline and surrounding communities. Goldman and Krakowsky never thought they'd go from watching coverage of Sandy to becoming a part of it. "I thought this tree was going to last forever. Big, big tree. Robust. There was no way that tree was going to fall," Krakowsky said.

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