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Briefly: October 24, 2014

Storm takes toll It may not have been enough rain to set records, but Powell River’s first fall storm has packed a wallop, flooding streets and basements and knocking out power to some neighbourhoods.

Storm takes toll

It may not have been enough rain to set records, but Powell River’s first fall storm has packed a wallop, flooding streets and basements and knocking out power to some neighbourhoods.

One hundred and 13 millimetres of rain fell between Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Cloud bursts dumped almost 50 millimetres in a four-hour period Tuesday evening and the storm packed winds gusting up to 84 kilometres per hour, said John Ede, who collects metrological data at Powell River airport.

One of the locations hardest hit by Tuesday night’s storm was Tla’amin (Sliammon) Nation’s Fish Hatchery.

As Sliammon Creek picked up strength, a large amount of heavy debris was washed down stream and was caught up at the fence across the creek creating a natural dam, said Chief Clint Williams. As the creek rerouted to the ocean, it jumped its banks and flowed over into the lower part of the hatchery including the artificial spawning channel, the office and fish egg incubation building.

“We don’t really know what the official damage is right now because it’s all still under water,” said Williams.

On Wednesday workers tried to cherry-pick some of the logs from the fence with the help of one of Oceanview Helicopters’s Hughes 500 MD helicopters.

“It wasn’t the biggest success,” said Williams. “It cleared the fence up somewhat and helped lower [water levels] for a little while, but the pieces were just too big for the Hughes 500. They were just jammed in.”

Calls went out to logging companies for a more robust helicopter, but none were operating in the area, he said.

Heavy rain on Wednesday night brought more debris down the creek and water levels rose again.

Williams said that they hope to clear the log jam with the help of an excavator.

“It’s tough, though, because there’s just so much water pressure pushing down on the logs,” he said.

Tor Birtig, City of Powell River director of infrastructure, said the storm, which he described as a one-in-25-year event, put the city’s storm sewer infrastructure to the test.

Throughout the city there were a number of reports of manholes overflowing and excess water flowing out onto the street as the system became inundated. Drivers discovered Marine Avenue near Laburnum Street living up to its name.

The storm water also overflowed the sewer system at Willingdon Beach causing a spill, said Birtig.

“The area’s been cordoned off for the interim,” he said, adding that there were not any reports of significant damage to public property.

Along the seawalk landslides were reported as its saturated banks slipped during the deluge.

City crews were out Wednesday morning surveying the damage and cleaning up debris, branches and leaves, fouling the roadway.

The storm’s strong winds brought down trees and branches on power lines and knocked out electricity to homes north of town near Lund, on Wilde, Atrevida and Crowther roads and south of town near Stillwater.

In the storm’s aftermath, flooding has been reported throughout the region in residents’ basements and yards. Van Anda resident Nicholas Badics said that because the Texada Island town’s drainage ditches have not been maintained well, backed-up water on Main Street flooded his front yard destroying his gardens.

Wednesday night’s rain also caused minor flooding at Quality Foods, but the grocery store was open Thursday morning after staff cleaned up the puddles.


Jack-o-lanterns

An annual pumpkin carving event is celebrating its 10-year anniversary this weekend and everyone is invited to come down and carve some jack-o-lanterns.

Bill Hopkins, event organizer, said that it began as a school project while he was completing a community support workers’ course.

“We had to do a project that was supposed to be a long-lasting event for the community,” said Hopkins. His event was first held in Cranberry at Community Living Place, then moved to Town Centre Mall.

Over the years it has enjoyed the support from many local businesses and groups, he said.

“I would love to see it go on for many more years to come,” he said.

This year’s event is taking place from noon to 3 pm, Saturday, October 25, at Town Centre Mall.