‘It took out a children’s bedroom window’: Toppled tree destroys part of B.C. townhouse

Some parts of B.C. recorded gusts of more than 100 km/h during a destructive storm that knocked out power for more than 100,000 people.

As a fierce windstorm tore across Metro Vancouver overnight, a family living in a Coquitlam townhouse complex moved from the bedrooms to the living room, worried trees outside could fall.

It was a decision that may have saved one of their children’s lives.

Just after 4 a.m. Wednesday, a massive tree fell into the corner unit on Burke Mountain, shearing off part of the home, including a child’s bedroom window.

Corine Carey, the president of the strata that manages the complex, heard it happen.

“It was so loud. It came down and the ground shook and we knew something had happened. We didn’t know where. At first, I thought it hit my house, but it hit the house in the back, and it took out a children’s bedroom window and destroyed the corner of that home,” said Carey.

Because they had moved to another part of the home before the tree fell, the family of four was unhurt.

“I’m just so grateful they’re okay,” said Carey. “Houses can be fixed. Health is something else.”

Trees all over Metro Vancouver were uprooted or snapped in half during the first big windstorm of the winter season.

“Really significant wind speeds hit many areas and really caused a lot of power damages,” said Brian Proctor with Environment Canada.

He explained there are two main reasons for the toppled and uprooted trees.

“One was all the rain we have had previously, it’s saturating the ground. And also, the extended drought that we had in the last couple of years, that put a lot of our coniferous trees into various stages of threat,” Proctor said.

At the height of the storm, 120,000 BC Hydro customers were without power.

“I think it’s important to note that this marks the third major weather event this week. So our crews have been working around the clock,” said Kevin Aquino with BC Hydro.

By late afternoon, most BC Hydro customers had their power back on, but it’s possible some will remain in the dark overnight.

“If there are any downed lines, that is our number one priority. From there, we’ll move on to our outages where we can restore upwards of 5,000 customers. And then from there, we’ll go into the more localized damages,” said Aquino.

At the Burke Mountain townhouse complex, damage is still being assessed. The family that lives in the impacted unit has been temporarily displaced.

“I talked to them again this morning, they have a place to stay, so they’re good,” said Carey. “It could have been way worse. Everybody’s safe, and that’s what really matters.”