Windstorm: Powerless in Penticton
Posted November 15, 2007 by Rosalind Gardner · Filed Under At Home
We arrived home from our trip to New York and Toronto in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.
Although Don, our housesitter, had phoned us in Toronto to tell us about the Penticton windstorm and downed trees in our yard (see the pictures), it wasn’t until the next morning that we became fully aware of how much damage the 100 kilometer per hour winds had caused, particularly in our neighbourhood and down at Skaha Park on the beach.
After seeing the destruction first hand, I was amazed that there were no injuries or deaths caused by falling trees during the storm considering the number of trees that crashed into houses and cars. I was more amazed still after hearing our neighbours talk about being outside and watching the ground heave as the trees swayed wildly in the wind.
Thirteen big trees on our street of only 14 houses were dropped by the wind. We lost 5 trees in total, including a huge blue spruce that took out a big maple which fell into the hydro lines and caused the power pole to collapse. The lines fell around our neighbour’s truck and actually melted a piece of his driveway. The top portion of a poplar in the backyard snapped off and landed on a hawthorne splitting it in half. Lastly, a spruce in the back yard was sheared off about 8 feet above the ground, lifted upwards and then sideways clearing the fence and another landscaped part of the side yard, before it landed in the street.
Our weather station (shown top left) clocked the top wind speed at 80 kilometers per hour, and down the street another friend with a weather station showed top speeds of 101 kilometers per hour.
We were SO lucky not to have sustained any damage to the house, unlike so many others who need to have windows replaced and are looking at roof truss replacement in the spring.
Although I thought we were properly prepared with our emergency kit for a lengthy power failure (this one lasted 2 and a half days) with both gas and wood fireplaces, a gas stove and water heater, the Grundig emergency radio this event proved that we still have more work to do.
Although we had tons of emergency candles and crank flashlights (that don’t require batteries), one of the essential elements we were missing was a couple of really bright lights, like this 10 Million Power™ Series Spotlight or better yet, a Coleman® fluorescent lantern such as the one pictured left and available online at the HurricaneStore.com. We picked up 3 of them yesterday, and just one provides ample lighting in any large room.
Because I hate having to throw out food and would like the house to stay warmer than 12.9 degrees celsius, our next investment will be a generator large enough to power both the fridge and the furnace.
And last but not least, and although it is completely unecessary, I want a little TV for those really long power outages. 
Technorati Tags: Penticton, windstorm, skaha, trees
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3 Responses to “Windstorm: Powerless in Penticton”
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Hi,
Did you move out of Naramata?
Been living here for 5 months..
100 foot tall Ponderosa Trees here on the beach fell away and smashed fence and road. They would have crushed our house otherwise.. Lucky the dock was closed for the season…. Amazingly out power never went out although we were evacuated by the fire department for our safety after the trees fell at 8;20AM.. Amazing waves. Many folks who grew up here have never seen such before..
[Reply]
Hello Jack,
I lived in Naramata from ‘92 until ‘94, but when I returned to the Okanagan from Calgary in 2004, I decided to be kinder to the environment and move to an area of Penticton from where I could walk to the bank, grocery store, Starbucks and the beach.
Not only that, but I was getting really tired of the idiot drivers on the Naramata Road who seem unable to stay on their side of the line. You might have seen my “Letter of the Day” a couple weeks back in the Penticton Herald?
Cheers,
Ros
[Reply]
Hi to you! Rosalind
Talking about Penticton,I had a chance to stay there the summer of 1976.
It has very nice beaches along the two lakes and the warmist water in all Canada.
In NB, its in Shadiac we a great sandy beach also. It reminded me of Penticton, put its salty water of the Northanberland Bay .Population goes up for the summer, swam of tourisms as Penticton.
Greeeting;
Robert
[Reply]