1 dead, another injured by falling trees in Surrey during BC windstorm: officials

A woman has died after being hit by a falling tree branch in Surrey during Saturday’s wind storm on BC’s south coast, according to police.

Surrey Fire Service said crews responded to a call about a traumatic injury in the 17500 block of 29th Avenue in South Surrey around 10 p.m. 10 PT where a person was reportedly hit by a falling tree branch.

Assistant Fire Chief Jerry Siggs said he could not comment on the victim’s condition. However, Surrey Police Service later confirmed that the person had died.

In a separate call that morning, firefighters helped rescue another person trapped under a downed tree in the 14600 block of 72 Ave in the city’s Newton area.

“Six firefighters worked with BC Ambulance and extricated the person from under the tree and provided patient care,” Siggs said.

Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton of the Surrey Police Service said the city had to issue an emergency alert warning residents of high winds.

“We got a call from (emergency health services) kind of mid-morning about a woman who had been very tragically hit by a falling part of a tree,” Houghton told CBC News. “Our role was limited to helping provide some victim services, support for the family.”

Power restored to BC Hydro customers

Environment Canada warned Saturday morning that the Metro Vancouver area could be hit with 70 km/h winds and gusts of up to 100 km/h as a low pressure system moved in.

More than 300,000 customers on the West Coast had lost power during the day, according to BC Hydro, after high winds led to downed power lines, downed trees and power outages.

In an update late Saturday night, the utility said nearly 90 percent of its customers had power restored and crews would work overnight to restore power.

SEE | Clean-up continues after the south coast windstorm:

Landslide cleanup continues after BC’s south coast hit by storm overnight

The Sea to Sky Highway (Highway 99) has reopened between Lions Bay and Brunswick Beach, BC, after a landslide Saturday that officials say swept a home off the ground. Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/1.7411124

The storm not only brought down power lines, but also blew a black canopy tent off a building on Alberni Street in downtown Vancouver on Saturday.

Vancouver Police Department spokeswoman Tania Visintin said Saturday night that the object had struck two vehicles after falling.

But Visintin said as far as she knows, there were no injuries.

“VPD was on scene for traffic control while the object was removed from the road,” Visintin said in a statement.

Strong winds across the south coast led to wind warnings, ferry cancellations, regional damage and even a landslide.