The scene was surreal. The damage, minimal.
Early Saturday, as fierce winds swept down Howe Sound, Ross McCorquodale’s Bowen Island house shook.
McCorquodale and his teenage son, bleary eyed and concerned, headed into the dark and wind to see what had happened.
“We had to climb under trees in the middle of the dark and get out to the road, and we’re just like…this is amazing.”
In the wind, a 125 foot tree had fallen in McCorquodale’s front yard, just the tip resting on his roof. But it was only one of six fallen trees in his yard.
“It lifted up a 30-foot strip by 17-foot root ball,” said McCorquodale. Pictures show that a strip of land parallel to the road simply tipped up, sending half a dozen trees over with it.
Trees were resting on McCorquodale’s house, his neighbour’s house, his garage and one of the trees was poised just above his two trucks and the 1966 Chevy Impala he and his son are planning to restore together.
“It woke me up but I couldn’t see anything so I went back to sleep till the next morning,” said neighbour Johanne Verville. “I woke up … and all I could see were branches. Lots and lots of branches.”
One of the trees had fallen on Verville’s roof.
But miraculously, no building or vehicle was seriously damaged.
“[Another] neighbor came over and brought me to her house and made me breakfast,” said Verville.
By the time Verville made it back to her home, the whole yard was abuzz.
“I came over and there’s people already here, like 8 o’clock in the morning, helping,” she said. “They gave up their Saturday, which is precious. But they just came.
"It was it was heartwarming and it makes you grateful for being here," she said. "This little community."
After a few people stopped by in the early morning, McCorquodale got a text from a friend offering help. Word spread and soon they had eight chainsaws going, limbing and bucking wood.
“We started a bonfire and, yeah, within six hours we were playing hockey on Quarry Park because we managed to buck up all the trees,” he said.
“All I needed to do was buy beer for the guys and I think I went to the Snug [coffee shop] and bought 10 wraps,” he said. “Sun was shining. We managed to get it all cleared up.”
Now there are stacks of rounds in the yard that McCorquodale’s son plans to chop and sell to pay for his part of the Impala.
