The storm knocked over several trees in Trina Kibblewhite's yard, one crushing the front end of her truck.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED / Trina Kibblewhite

A strong windstorm that blew through Kamloops last night did some significant damage in Brocklehurst.

Many Brocklehurst residents are out in their yards this morning, July 17, cleaning up the mess left in the wake of the storm, while some are having to assess the more serious damage caused to their properties.

"It took down a 40-foot maple in my yard," Trina Kibblewhite said. "There's smaller stuff all around the neighbourhood, someone lost a portion of their carport, lots of branches."

Fortunately, Kibblewhite's tree missed her house, and her shed. However, it crushed her brand-new metal gazebo and hit her truck.

The storm knocked over several trees in Brocklehurst, including those in Trina Kibblewhite's yard, which damaged her new gazebo.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED / Trina Kibblewhite

"The only part of my truck I can see is the tailgate," she said. "The rest of it is all completely buried underneath the tree."

Kibblewhite has called for assistance from her landlord, who will help clean up the mess.

"It's going to take a few trailer loads to get this out of here," she said.

The storm knocked over several trees in Brocklehurst, including those in Trina Kibblewhite's yard.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED / Trina Kibblewhite

Brock resident Eva Wright was out last night with her son and his friend helping neighbours secure their belongings, as well as rescuing their own.

"My boys were helping me put away my potted plants, our neighbours plants, some ornaments, so they wouldn't be blown away," she said.

During the storm, Wright noticed a broken pipe behind her neighbour's property had burst and was spewing water.

"You could see the water shooting out, all the way to the top of the roof," she said. "The strong wind was blowing water onto the rooftops of both houses."

She also helped the elderly couple who live across the street secure the skirting around the edge of their mobile home, as it was flapping so much in the wind.

"Everyone was helping each other staple things up," Wright said. "One of our neighbour's shed was going up and down, because they're nothing inside it."

They filled the vinyl shed with rocks to keep it from flying away.

Kamloops Fire Rescue received two calls during the storm regarding downed power lines. Fire crews attended one call on Bentley Place shortly after 6:30 p.m. where the power lines were struck by a fallen branch.

"The hydro lines were very low to the ground," assistant fire chief Robb Schoular said. "Our crews kept the street blocked off until hydro could arrive approximately 15 minutes later."

They also attended call on 12 Street around the same time.

"The hydro lines were down, sparking. They were knocked down by a tree branch," he said. There were no reports of structural damage from either call. 

While it was windy chaos in Brock, many other neighbourhoods seem to have been totally unaffected.

"I talked to some other people, I have a friend who's up in Dufferin, all over the place," Kibblewhite said. "They were like, 'Wind? What wind?'"

She said that although it left quite a mess in its wake, the storm didn't last long and the worst of it was over around 7 p.m. yesterday.

— This story was updated at 10:51 p.m. Friday, July 17, 2020 to include information from Kamloops Fire Rescue.

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