British Columbian coast flattened in windstorm! Everyone OK? - YouLookFab Forum

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British Columbian coast flattened in windstorm! Everyone OK?

Aziraphale

Veteran

We finally have our power back up after 36 hours without! My poor dad had his out for nearly 48 hours. I was out with him when the windstorm hit -- it was spectacular! And a little scary. Branches flying everywhere, and so many trees down. It normally takes me 15 minutes to get home from his house, but on Saturday it took over an hour, because of all the fallen trees blocking the roads. Our neighbours behind our house have lost two beautiful trees. They got ripped up by the roots. One of my girlfriends texted me a picture of a crushed car a block away from her house.

Luckily my dad's neighbours, who know how ill my mom is, brought over a generator to at least keep his freezer going. The power outage didn't stop the care workers from coming, either, so that was good. But their house was starting to get quite cold. Glad this happened in August, and not January. My mom didn't even appear to notice anything was up. I'll have to get an emergency plan in place in case a storm like this happens in the winter.

Hope any other West coast ladies are OK, and survived the damage.

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19 replies

Latest reply was from Aida

Word Lily

Veteran

Oh wow! Glad you and your family are all OK. And it sounds like a plan for such things is prudent.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Oh, wow -- it sounds horrible! Hope you are okay and that everyone else is, too. Off to contact friends....

Aziraphale

Veteran

We're all fine -- it was more of an inconvenience than anything. But I've never seen so much damage from the wind! We are lucky in that we don't live in a part of the world where there are hurricanes. I have sympathy for the east-coasters.

Kari

Veteran

Yikes! Hope everyone is OK.

I'm in the US but was definitely impacted by the storm. We were out of power for 2 days. No damage to our building aside from patio tables/furniture being knocked around (some of which flipped into the building's pool!) but there were lots of trees down on our block, knocking down power lines. Our nearby dog park has some pretty significant damage (pictured.) Our area had so many widespread power outages that it took forever for our utilities to be restored. Fortunately stores nearby had power restored quickly.

I'm also glad that it was August and was quite hot in days leading up to the storm, so our apartment was quite warm. Also, we had plenty of hot water to last. About the only major impact to us was having to discard a lot of food that we'd bought on our last Costco trip a few days prior!

I was actually on the Oregon coast when the windstorm hit, and it was crazy being on the beach with dry sand whipping over the surface like a river. The dogs thought it was great fun.

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Classically Casual

Veteran

Power just restored at Chez Classically Casual about an hour ago. Fortunately, out of town during most of it. Such crazy weather this summer. Like Kari throwing out all the perishables, even the salmon...sob!

Lots and lots of tree damage.

annagybe

(website)

Veteran

Two people died in Puget Sound, including a little girl playing outside at birthday party.
We usually get windstorms like this in winter, which is actually better because the trees don't have leaves so the wind blows through them.
Also though the rain will help the fires in the east it's a mixed blessing as the soil is so parched it just runs off causing flooding.
ETA I was wine tasting in Woodinville, while we were there they lost power. Most of the tasting rooms stayed open, we just tasted in the dark & whites weren't chilled #firstworldproblems

Aziraphale

Veteran

Oh no, Anna -- two people died in the Seattle area? I hadn't heard that. That's tragic. The rain is much-needed here, too, and hopefully will soak in without causing flash flooding. It's a concern in BC as well. We've been on level-4 water restrictions for a while now (the highest level -- we basically can't water anything). At the moment, however, it's coming down in torrents.

Classically casual -- I'm sorry about your salmon! We rescued ours (our in-laws had power, so we went over there with the contents of our freezer) but I'm sure lots of people lost a lot of food.

Kari -- Whoa! You're in California, right? I suspected there would be damage in Seattle, but I didn't realize the storm had an impact that far south. We don't normally get windstorms like this in the summer, but it's not as bad as it could be -- it has been really hot here too, so no little old ladies are freezing to death in their apartments.

I'm more just alarmed by the number of trees down, and how long it took BC Hydro to repair the damage. I was out in the car when the storm hit. It wasn't even raining, but there were branches flying everywhere. Part of the problem is that, like Anna says, the trees have leaves, which act like sails. Also, the dry ground has weakened their roots systems, which is why so many got torn up from the ground.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Thank heavens for good neighbours. Glad all is good your side., Elisabeth. And that your parents managed too.

It was very gusty, stormy and rainy here over the weekend. Tropical! Lots of debris everywhere and hard for a 4 pound puppy to wee wee in the wind. No power outage though. We are fine.

Gaylene

Veteran

I'm glad to hear you, and your family, managed to get through that wind storm. It must have a nasty and frightening few hours. I'm sure your dad must have appreciated your being with him.

We had weather warnings here in Victoria but other than a few gusts and some well-needed showers, the projected storm was a non-event. I still marvel at how much of difference there is between Vancouver and Victoria weather. We get much less rain even though the distance between the two cities isn't that great.

Maneera

(website)

Veteran

Oh my, glad to hear you and your family are all ok. Those pictures look bad, Kari.

jackiec

Veteran

I'm glad things are ok for you Az, but it certainly makes you think about what to do next time. I was scrambling around looking for candles, but fortunately we didn't lose power. What a crazy crazy scene. Lots of cars with dents around here and the tree-carnage in the neighbourhood was crazy. I'm still nervous to walk the dogs bc broken branches might still fall (so I stick to open areas). One of my sons was at a friend's cottage for a birthday weekend and they lost power all weekend. The boys ended up playing scrabble and risk by candlelight. It ended up being a special and memorable weekend for a rabble of crazy boys. It feels so weird. Almost like the light was officially switched off of summer.

Beth Ann

Veteran

As a midwesterner, it's tornadoes and blizzards that we have to prepare for. I know what you mean about the need for a plan. In 2011, we lost power for 5 days (Illinois power infrastructure is outdated). Now I have flashlights or lanterns in each bedroom and some basic provisions on hand. I also fill the tub every time a serious storm threatens. We can use the water if we lose power. We also formed a "family plan," which needs updating since we've moved.

Glad to know your parents are safe and secure. Here's hoping the wind and wildfires are abating for the season!

Isabel

Veteran

So glad to learn that everyone is fine. Elizabeth, as someone with two elderly parents and a disabled sister who lives with them, I also appreciate their neighbors more than words can describe. Hang in there !

Marlene

Veteran

I was in Vancouver BC when the storm hit! I was walking down the sidewalk when I was suddenly pelted with massive rain then BAM a huge gust of wind nearly picked me up. I quickly dashed into a coffee shop to ride it out. When I emerged, there were so many trees from the city sidewalks just yanked up by their roots. We never lost power but many of the lights flickered around town. My daughter was at a tap dance festival and luckily they were dancing to an acoustic band so they just continued tapping in the dark. One thing when you are a performer...the show must go on! My dad was going to come into town from the suburbs to see my daughter dance but called to let me know that a huge tree fell down on the freeway and all the ways in and out of town were blocked. So no visit from grandpa! When I was leaving town on Sunday, I passed by the ritzy, upscale part of town that is known for its quaint, tree-lined streets. As I passed by, I saw ALL THE TREES laying on their sides, roots up! It will take some time to replace all those old trees!

Aida

Veteran

We had the below happen (that's part of a monster ~100' maple that belongs to neighbors up the hill which drops a mind-boggling amount leaves/helicopters on us every fall; third photo shows the break, the big gap filled with light). Sounded like an explosion. But at least we managed to not lose power; a few nearby friends came over to hang out at our place for the day since, along with most of the area (some 175K+ in our very-not-urban county alone), they did lose their power.

So... could be worse -_-

(I'm a little added bitter that it took out my photo spot!)

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Aziraphale

Veteran

I appreciate the kind words and advice from everyone!

Wow, Aida, that's too bad. It was a nice tree. Glad you were OK though!

Jackie, Marlene -- glad you guys were OK too!

Kari

Veteran

Aziraphale, I'm in Seattle. Our power came on after 2 days. It's actually been a really crazy week at our apartment.

First - before the storm, thankfully - major repair work began on our roof. We're a top story unit, and I was shocked to see plaster falling into our apartment and DAYLIGHT through my bathroom fan/light fixtures, in addition to the fan/smoke detector falling off the ceiling! Fortunately they fixed some of it before the rain started.

Then, the wind knocked 2 tall trees on our block into power lines. We were out of power for 2 days. (I think there were about 240,000+ people out of power in the Puget Sound, at the highest?)

Finally, yesterday, another resident's kitchen caught on fire while they were away from home (likely due to leaving a stove/appliance on) and we had to evacuate the building. (Fortunately my apartment is far enough away from the fire source that we were not damaged.)

I'm REALLY ready for some peace!

Kari

Veteran

Holy moley, Aida! Glad that you guys are OK; any damage to your house or car?

Aida

Veteran

No, luckily there was no damage to the house nor cars -- although my husband half-jokingly and half-seriously complained about that, because the insurance doesn't cover replacing our poor privacy trees and it'd be nice to get a little help there