Burnaby Street between Nicola and Cardero Streets in Vancouver’s West End was closed after a giant tree fell on two vehicles on Thursday afternoon.
Global BC reporter Jordan Armstrong went to the scene, where he said the tree had fallen on the hood of a Ford SUV, as well as a Chevrolet off-road-type vehicle.
There wasn’t much strong wind in the area on Thursday afternoon, but the ground was heavily saturated after record-breaking rainfall on Wednesday, said Global News meteorologist Kristi Gordon.
Rain continued on and off on Thursday, she added.
Howard Normann, the director of parks at the Vancouver Park Board, said trees are inspected on an annual basis, and that there’s a “fairly aggressive” program to keep them trimmed and in good shape.
“They are older trees and we have concerns from residents around the city for various,” he told Global News.
“Whether it’s the size or the variety, but we do our job with our trained arbor staff to maintain these trees and we think that they’re in good shape.”
READ MORE: Heavy rainfall floods streets, knocks down trees in Metro Vancouver
CKNW’s Jeremy Lye was on the scene in the West End.
He learned that the fallen tree was about to be cleared, and that only one vehicle looked like it was heavily-damaged.
The offroad-type vehicle suffered some damage, but not as much as the other one. Its owner, Sean, called the accident an “act of nature.”
Yet one more vehicle appeared to have ducked any damage at all.
READ MORE: Windstorm causes tree to crush former Surrey MLA’s son’s car
- With files from Jordan Armstrong and CKNW’s Jeremy Lye