Tri-City councils will end their summer break by having to rejig their budgets to pay for clean-up and repairs following Saturday's wind storm.
The unexpected blowout will cost local taxpayers upward of $100,000 to repair damage to public property and for overtime, with crews forced to contend with downed trees, broken sidewalks and gnarled fences during the widespread power outage that followed.
In Port Moody, city staff scrambled to help a couple tying the knot Saturday afternoon at a dark Old Orchard Hall.
Nearby, at the Port Moody recreation complex, lessons and birthday parties were scrubbed when the outage struck the facility around noon. Registered classes will be made up at the end of the season, if possible.
Elsewhere in the city, municipal staff and contractors contended with a broken sewer line in the College Park neighbourhood, ripped out after a tree fell and its root pulled up the pipe.
Mayor Mike Clay said 26 trees came down and there were 26 tree-related complaints on private and public property. Still, nobody was injured in the ordeal.
Firefighters had to rescue three people stuck in an elevator while another person was taken out of another elevator in another building.
Meanwhile, Coquitlam is still tallying the bill of its damage and overtime costs.
The city's engineering and public works hotline logged 615 calls for service over the weekend, said Jamie Umpleby, director of public works, whose department had 26 staff called out to handle the heavy equipment for downed trees and road or sidewalk blockages.
Like Port Moody, Coquitlam tried to give out updates via social media. And with this week's rainfall warnings, it's now asking residents to keep catch basins and other drains free of debris to prevent flooding.
Kathleen Reinheimer, Coquitlam's parks manager, said city staff are now assessing the damage at recreation spots. Over the weekend, arbourists were at 70 sites where there were reports of fallen street or park trees.
"Many of these sites included damaged infrastructure in one form or other — mostly broken fencing," she said in a statement. "We're just working our way through the developed parks and into trails in forested parks so we don't yet know how extensive the damage is but it appears that most of the damage relates to damaged or fallen deciduous trees."
Walkers and runners are asked to exercise caution while in the parks and to stay away from work zones.
As for the Poirier Sport and Leisure complex, it was without power until Sunday at 6 p.m. As of Tuesday, the rinks were still out of commission as the ice surfaces melted.
And in Port Coquitlam, traffic was snarled for much of the weekend and especially along Lougheed Highway, where lights were off at some intersections.
City spokesperson Pardeep Purewal said the playground and trail at Lions Park — as well as the Traboulay PoCo Trail — are off limits while crews clear fallen debris. The city has also hired contractors to help with the recovery.
As well, entertainment at the Leigh Square Community Arts Village and bandshell on Saturday were cancelled while outdoor pools were also temporarily shuttered (Hyde Creek rec centre is currently closed for annual maintenance).
On the bright side, the PoCo recreation complex wasn't affected and, as a result, the BCHL exhibition hockey game between the Coquitlam and Langley teams was able to run as scheduled. The event raised $441 plus boxes of food for the Share food bank.
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GREEN PICKUP
• Coquitlam residents who receive municipal collection can put out extra yard trimmings for pick-up next week. Free residential drop-off is also available daily from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Coquitlam Construction Recycling and Yard Trimmings Drop-off Facility (995 United Blvd.). Call 604-927-3500 or email wastereduction@coquitlam.ca for more information.
• Port Coquitlam homeowners who get city trash pick-up can request an extra collection of yard waste and spoiled food — over and above their regular green bin scheduling. To arrange for a supplemental collection for Tuesday, Sept. 8, call the operations centre at 604-927-5496.
• Port Moody currently has no plans for extra green pickup.
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HOSPITAL 911
Patients at Port Moody's Eagle Ridge Hospital didn't suffer during the power outage over the weekend.
ERH executive director Lakh Bagri said the hospital didn't go dark as emergency generators kicked in as soon as the power went out.
"All of our hospitals [in Fraser Health] have emergency management plans in place and contingency plans are used when needed," Bagri said in a statement, adding: "Our employees, physicians and volunteers worked tirelessly to assist and help manage the issues we faced so we could be quick, responsive and tuned into the needs of our patients, their care and their needs to be kept informed."
jwarren@tricitynews.com
@jwarrenTC
