Wrapping up a relatively calm and sunny summer, Vancouver was rocked with monster winds this past weekend, knocking down trees and hydro poles, ultimately leaving over 200,000 people across the lower mainland without electricity for up to 24 hours.
Although the rain was predicted, the windstorm was uncalled for.
The winds gusting up to 90 kilometres an hour also forced numerous road closures as trees were ripped from their roots and blocked off streets, resulting in hours of delays for drivers. Public transit users were also affected, as skytrain delays were already in place, and further extended after trees were thrown onto the track, heavily damaging one of the trains.
The windstorm has been labelled the largest south coast storm in a decade. Below are 10 shocking photos of the windstorm’s damage.
Along with the weekend’s rain came a mighty wind… #Vancouver pic.twitter.com/dyqgk11FEu
— ToursByLocals (@Tours_By_Locals) August 30, 2015
Almost looks fake… Near my place #vancouver #BCstorm #wind pic.twitter.com/IhgWuCy6qN — Samantha Truong 張遠群 (@samanthaatruong) August 30, 2015
Wind storm. Be safe folks. #MountPleasant #Vancouver pic.twitter.com/mL7wThl8tq
— Zara Durrani (@ZaraDurrani) August 29, 2015
Big old tree down 12th at Fraser in #Vancouver #ItsWindy #Wind pic.twitter.com/GtQudhcWtu — Ian Jones (@jonesywest) August 29, 2015
Aftermath of #Vancouver windstorm yesterday pic.twitter.com/wYm4plb4Wq
— Trevor McLeod (@tabmcleod) August 30, 2015
Huge tree down WOW RT @John_Hwang #Vancouver #windstorm pic.twitter.com/btarJkomwL” — Alex Dabrowski (@alexdabrows) August 29, 2015
#Windstorm downs trees across Metro #Vancouver http://t.co/PRJ3sP19Ya pic.twitter.com/wT0PPOZZRd
— CTV Calgary (@CTVCalgary) August 29, 2015
.@ICBC: you need comprehensive coverage to claim damage from #BCstorm http://t.co/mNIlNtAtex pic via @weathernetwork pic.twitter.com/X8o3sAjdqD — NEWS 1130 (@NEWS1130) August 30, 2015
Brutal B.C. windstorm leaves thousands still without power http://t.co/0zdjtibOI9 pic.twitter.com/73St3LJevG
— CBC News (@CBCNews) August 30, 2015
When the wind is too strong and hits a skytrain pic.twitter.com/svVAXk0rcB — Jennifer Thi (@jenniferrthii) August 29, 2015
Featured photo via The Weather Network