A Vernon resident shared a near-miss photo of a tree fallen onto her backyard shed in Vernon’s East Hill, where it came to rest just above the roof of her home. (Kristine Erlendson photo)

Windstorm introduces large tree to Vernon family’s shed

The East Hill family home was nearly hit by the fallen fir tree Thursday morning

  • Jan. 14, 2021 12:00 a.m.

Yesterday’s windstorm gave a Vernon family a startlingly up-close encounter with a large fir tree on their property.

“We had a bit of a scare yesterday morning! Thank goodness everyone is OK and the damage was minimal,” East Hill resident Kristine Erlendson said in a post to Facebook Thursday (Jan. 14) morning.

The tree came down across Erlendson’s backyard shed around 5:30 a.m. and hung over the top of the 23rd Street home, coming close to her son’s bedroom.

“We are all fine just still a bit shook up,” her post reads.

BC Hydro crews were busy around the clock Wednesday restoring power for thousands of customers in Vernon, as well as across the southern Interior. Several road closures were in effect in the area as a result of downed powerlines and uprooted trees and power poles.

There are still more than a dozen power outages in the North Okanagan Thursday afternoon, according to BC Hydro’s website, but only a handful of customers are affected by each outage.

READ MORE: Windstorm makes tap water unsafe for some Central Okanagan residents

READ MORE: Storm breaks Vernon hospital’s heart


Brendan Shykora

Reporter, Vernon Morning Star

Email me at Brendan.Shykora@vernonmorningstar.com

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Vernon Morning Star