City and emergency crews in the Tri-Cities were busy this week cleaning up from yet another powerful windstorm in the Lower Mainland.
On Tuesday, strong gusts knocked out power to parts of the region, with the municipalities closing facilities early to ensure public safety.
By 4:30 p.m., the lights at Terry Fox Library in Port Coquitlam were out while Gates Park was dark until Wednesday afternoon, cancelling minor lacrosse and soccer practices on Turf 1.
BC Hydro reported more than 110,000 Lower Mainland customers were without power around dinner time Tuesday, with Coquitlam being among the hardest hit.
Coquitlam Fire Chief Wade Pierlot said the calls started coming in just before 3 p.m. — as the firefighters' shift was ending — and of the 30 reports, 13 were about wires down and trees on wires.
The house fire in the 2100-block of Craigen Avenue is also being attributed to the power outage, Pierlot said.
Coquitlam's public works director Jamie Umpleby said city staff worked late Monday to prepare for the storm, checking intakes, catch basins and creeks.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the city's engineering customer service hotline logged 105 calls about the rain and wind damage. Municipal crews were on site to handle road flooding complaints, clear fallen trees and debris and erect signs near downed wires.
Port Coquitlam was also busy removing trees around the city including a 100-foot tree on Oxford Street.
Crews also had to contend downed wires trails near Cedar Drive elementary (which required a safety perimeter) and a snapped high-tension power pole in the west lane behind Shaughnessy Street, which resulted in other poles being pulled for four blocks, between Kelly and Hawthorne (traffic was shut on that stretch of road).
Another tension pole at Cedar Drive that supplies electricity to a city pump station also snapped.
PoCo residents also called the city for medical help and a few even got caught in stuck elevators because of the power failure. In total, PoCo firefighters responded to 17 calls between 4 and 6 p.m., prompting a third-alarm callout to boost staffing levels.
In Port Moody, city staff took 15 calls around dinner Tuesday about branches and trees down: two on Heritage Mountain and one in the College Park neighbourhood.
"We will continue to assess trees to determine any further damage," said Dave Kidd, Port Moody's parks and public works director. "Trees that need to come down due to damage will be considered for a wildlife tree to provide valuable habitat for the conservation or enhancement of wildlife."
Power was also out temporarily at the Glenayre community centre.
Tuesday's storm was relatively minor compared with the wind blast in late August, which caused millions of dollars in damage across southern B.C.
