Neighbor's tree fell on my car during storm - can I sue them or does my insurance cover this?

Last week during that big windstorm, a massive oak tree from my neighbor's yard fell directly onto my car parked in my driveway. The car is totaled - 2021 Honda Accord worth about $24,000.

Here's the thing - I've been telling my neighbor for over a year that this tree looked dead and was leaning toward my property. I even sent him a text message 8 months ago saying "that oak tree looks like it's dying, might want to get it checked out." He just said he'd "look into it" and never did anything.

Now he's saying it was an "act of God" and his homeowner's insurance won't cover my car. My own auto insurance says they'll cover it minus my $1,000 deductible but I don't think I should have to pay that when he was negligent.

Do I have a case against him? I'm in California.

Final update! Great news - my neighbor's homeowner's insurance (State Farm) accepted liability. They're paying my $1,000 deductible directly to me plus $650 of the rental car costs (they disputed a few days but whatever).

My auto insurance already paid out $22,800 for the totaled car, and State Farm is reimbursing them through subrogation.

The adjuster told me the text message was "very helpful" in establishing negligence. My neighbor and I are still on speaking terms - he apologized and said he should have listened when I warned him. He's also having two other trees evaluated now.

Moral of the story: DOCUMENT EVERYTHING IN WRITING. That one text message from 8 months ago saved me $1,650 out of pocket.