Clean-up efforts are underway across Invermere after a severe thunderstorm ripped through the community on Aug. 23.
We’ve been through a heck of a weekend here in Invermere,” said Mayor Al Miller.
“Certainly we had a lot of trees down. I can’t image how many but it’s certainly hundreds of trees.”
Power was out for thousands of customers in the Columbia Valley, but it has mostly been restored.
There are still scattered outages across the region as BC Hydro works on fixing downed lines.
“Friday night was a horrific night and I’m so happy I didn’t hear of any injuries at all. We’ve certainly had a lot of destruction and I’ve never seen anything like that before,” Miller said.
“The crews are working so hard and we appreciate BC Hydro for all they’re doing.”
Invermere Fire Rescue responded to 17 separate incidents on Aug. 23 involving downed power lines, fallen trees, wildland fire and structural damage.
Kinsmen Beach is closed until further notice as crews work to remove unsafe trees and debris.
Miller said the response from the community has been great and everyone is doing their part to help out.
“The thing that is most special about this event is the coming together from neighbours, friends and relatives,” he said.
“There was a buzz of chainsaws going, I took a quick trip to the recycle area and there were so many trucks, vehicles and trailers hauling limbs and trees to the green area at the dump.”
The storm forced the relocation of the South Rockies Incident Management Team fire camp, but BC Wildfire Service officials said there were no injuries and firefighting operations were not impacted.
Updates on the power outages can be found here.
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