Nelsonites clean up after massive thunderstorm rocks Heritage City
By Nelson Daily Staff
Residents woke up to downed trees, branches and debris filling the streets following a severe thunderstorm that ripped through the West Kootenay/Boundary/Arrow and Slocan Lakes region Monday evening.
“Mother Nature did a little pruning,” said one early morning walker on the waterfront pathway Tuesday morning.
Environment Canada called for the thunderstorm alert saying the storm could produce strong winds, dime-sized hail or heavy rains.
Two out of three ain’t bad.
The worst hit areas of the City proved to be Rotary Lakeside Park and Gyro Park.
Huge trees that have been standing for decades came toppling down due to the high winds.
City Public Works crews were out in full force Tuesday morning cleaning up from the massive storm. Crews devoted most of the attention immediately to Rotary Lakeside Park, site of Wednesday’s Canada Day Celebrations.
In Rosemont, a man was taken to hospital after a tree crushed the trailer he was inside at the time.
The man, who headed back into the trailer to retrieve the family pet, was able to contact 9-1-1 and was able to get out of the trailer before EHS personal arrived.
The man was taken to Kootenay Lake Hospital and later to Trail Regional Hospital with undisclosed injuries.
The storm knocked out power throughout the city with the hardest hit areas inside the City of Nelson and Proctor.
“There were many good sized trees laying on lines and in some cases have been brought lines to the ground with broken conductor and poles,” said a Nelson Hydro spokesperson.
Hydro crews worked well into the night re-energizing main line power feeds at approximately 1:45 a.m.
Most hydro customers had power back on Tuesday morning with the remaining customers restored over the course of the day.
Anyone still without power is asked not to open fridges or freezers to preserve he cold for as long as possible.
The power outage also created a problem with the traffic lights on Baker Street for most of Tuesday causing motorists to adopt the four-way-stop method for all major intersections in the downtown core.
Insurance companies in Nelson were kept busy throughout most of the day fielding calls from customers wanting to make claims.
Nelson Fire Department and Nelson Police along with City Public Works staff were out in full force dealing with the aftermath of the storm.
