Powerful winter storms affecting the US state of California have felled one of its most famous residents – a 1,000-year-old-tree with a hole cut into its base big enough for a car to drive through.

The Pioneer Cabin Tree, a giant sequoia, was the highlight of the ‘Big Trees Trail’ in Calaveras Big Trees State Park.

According to a park volunteer, the tree’s shallow roots were no match for winter flooding that has also toppled many other trees across California.