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Storm causes extensive damage

Heavy winds last week took out the fence and damaged grave markers at the Greenwood cemetery.
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A brief


A windstorm crashed through the southern interior last Thursday afternoon causing extensive damage.

The Greenwood Cemetery was badly damaged with some grave markers displaced when pine trees along the south fence line were blown over, taking the fence with it.

A few trees inside the grounds were blown over, another snapped off and one on the north perimeter was blown over.

Four or five across the road were blown over with a few hung up in other trees, leaning dangerously toward the road.

Back in Anaconda the home of Agnes and Dom Uyede was badly damaged when cottonwoods came down on the roof and into the backyard.

Agnes said as many as seven trees came down onto their property from neighboring property on the south side of the creek.

Those that landed on the house did significant damage – the largest broke several rafters and was so tall that the top of the tree took out the electricity service mast at the other end of the house.

At the Bugeaud ranch a few bald eagles lost their perch and the cows their shade when the old bull pine that stood between the house and the hayfield went down.

Another bull pine snapped off in front of Freeman’s Country Store.

According to Darlene Logan some residents along Jewel Lake Road were without power for some 26 hours because of the windstorm.

Tree planter Owen Stewart reported a planting crew was working 70 km up the North Fork by Young Lake when the storm hit and it took them four hours to cut their way out.

The FortisBC twitter account reported 250 homes lost power in Christina Lake.

A family from Oliver who were camping at 39 km up the Christian Valley Road were taken by surprise by the storm, with trees crashing to the ground nearby and across the river.

Sharon Snelling was camping with her husband and two-year old daughter and a couple of friends. “It was a beautiful sunny day,” recalled Snelling. “We were sitting on the beach and we saw this black cloud coming toward us. Right when it got to us this little swirl of wind came.”

As she ran to close the awning on her trailer a huge tree blew down on the other side of the river.

“There were trees coming down all around us. They just cut a path – crash, crash, crash, crash. And you could see it had taken down the trees.”

She said once the rain started the wind calmed down a little bit. No one was injured.

The family heard the next day that their orchard in Oliver was hit by hail and they lost their peach and apple crop.