Annie Zandvliet inspects the damage done to her garden shed after a tree fell over during the storm.
Lyonel Doherty
Annie Zandvliet is still counting her blessings that she lived through yesterday’s typhoon-like storm in Oliver.
She saw it coming.
“The sky was pitch black. The hail was hurting my hands (while I was holding the door on my porch).”
The wind and hail were so loud that she didn’t hear the huge pine tree in her yard fall over – 30 feet away from her house. The tree uprooted her garden shed and damaged half of her walnut tree and plum tree.
Zandvliet, who lives on Rockcliffe Road, said it was amazing that it didn’t hit her house and RV in the driveway. And the top of the tree landed just short of the neighbour’s fence line.
A large tree was uprooted in front of the Oliver arena on Fairview Road.
Lyonel Doherty photo
“I came here in 1963 . . . we never had weather like this.”
Neighbour Corry Zappey mirrored that comment by saying she’s lived in Oliver for 55 years and has never seen such a storm.
Both Zandvliet and Zappey agreed that the earth’s weather patterns are becoming more fierce and unpredictable.
The storm uprooted numerous other trees in Oliver, including one in front of the arena. The fire department was called to secure the scene of fallen power lines on Primrose Lane.
Patti Hannas from Public Works said the storm was not nearly as bad as the one that blew through Oliver in July of 2012.
Yesterday’s storm blew down one Town-owned boulevard tree and sent gravel out of the alleys onto roads.
“There is also a large amount of sand that came down off the hills in the Spartan Place area that Town crews will be picking up next week.”
