WILLOWBROOK, B.C. — Accompanying the symphony of rain and thunder was a murky cloud gusting with destruction. A powerful storm swept through the small community of Willowbrook near Oliver Monday afternoon.
One resident describes it as a miniature tornado.
“It just came through so suddenly and I think it took out one hundred trees out here,” says Brenda Wilkinson.
After the 15-minute storm had passed, resident Dave Holtjer was stunned to see the aftermath.
“You take a walk outside, and the Willowbrook Christmas tree is gone and the neighbour’s yard is destroyed — it’s like holy,” says Holtjer. “No one has seen anything like this before. It’s pretty strange.”
While the freak storm caused damage for some residents, others escaped its fury.
“We had thunder and lightning, but we didn’t know all of this happened and we only live a kilometre down the road. We had nothing happen to our property,” says Kim Gorrie.
Some residents in the Oliver-Willowbrook area were without electricity for about 20 hours.
Cleanup crews were still removing downed trees Tuesday.
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