Police in the Cowichan Valley had their hands full during and after the windstorm before Christmas.
“All in all, a busier 24 hours than normal,” said Insp. Chris Bear, the officer in charge of the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP detachment.
Police on the Dec. 20 day shift had to deal with a wide range of incidents, ranging from downed Hydro lines and road closures to motor vehicle collisions and float homes that broke away from their moorings.
“Fortunately, we were able to draw many of our officers in from support units to assist the front line,” Bear said.
The night shift was kept busy as well with an increased number of routine calls.
“There were a few false alarms when the power was restored to some areas,” Bear noted. “And officers conducted a great many patrols to ensure that those without power weren’t taken advantage of by would-be thieves.”
Officers also dealt with traffic at collisions and downed Hydro lines.
Most significantly, police responded to a site near Boys Road where a tree had fallen on a tent, killing 28-year-old Melissa Joe and injuring two men, one of whom was airlifted to hospital for treatment. Joe was not homeless herself, but had been checking up with family and friends in the homeless camp, something Cowichan Tribes Chief William “Chip” Seymour (Squtxulenuhw) said she did regularly.
An investigation into another death that night may connect it to the windstorm as well. A Cobble Hill man in his early 70s died when a trailer on Kingburne Drive caught fire. Shawnigan Lake RCMP and Mill Bay volunteer firefighters responded around 10:30 p.m. and found the trailer fully engulfed. Andy Watson of the BC Coroners Service confirmed that the investigation is in its early stages and will determine if there is any connection to the storm and the ensuing power outage.
