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MLA Michelle Mungall speaks about the community's response to storm damage in Nelson
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On June 29, out of nowhere, the clouds grew black over Nelson, and the worst storm in anyone's memory hit — lightning, torrential rain and winds gusting at 105 kilometres per hour. The pressure in Nelson's underground gravity-fed storm sewers was so great, manhole covers blew off in the flash floods. Power was out, and lines were down all over the area. But the trees were the scariest; 100-year-old trees, dry from drought, snapped and were falling everywhere. The worst hit — Nelson's prized and loved Lakeside Park. City Councillor Anna Purcell was in Lakeside when it hit. "All of the sudden, the air was white with rain and wind. Then trees started cracking," she said. "People were still in the water when the storm hit. They were running out of the water and appeared to be dodging falling trees. People were screaming, looking for cover."
Just after 20 minutes, the sun opened the clouds, and we all surveyed the damage. There wasn't a part of Nelson unaffected. But Lakeside got the worst of it. The playground, the greenhouse, tennis court, beach and all the wonderful shade trees in the park — a disaster zone. Without radio or Internet, and phones on low battery, the gossip about town was that our beloved Canada Day celebrations in Lakeside would be cancelled. 'Not so,' said the city of Nelson, and members of CUPE Local 339 and IBEW Local 1003 got to work with the help of many others. Chainsaws roared through the night. Roads were blocked to keep people away from downed power lines. The playground was cleaned up and safety measures on broken equipment put in place. In less than 24 hours, Lakeside was a picture of its old self — unless you looked up to see where those massive branches fell. So on July 1 Nelson headed down to Lakeside Park to celebrate our nation's birthday and our community. To our city workers, all we can say is: "Thank you, thank you, thank you."
Just after 20 minutes, the sun opened the clouds, and we all surveyed the damage. There wasn't a part of Nelson unaffected. But Lakeside got the worst of it. The playground, the greenhouse, tennis court, beach and all the wonderful shade trees in the park — a disaster zone. Without radio or Internet, and phones on low battery, the gossip about town was that our beloved Canada Day celebrations in Lakeside would be cancelled. 'Not so,' said the city of Nelson, and members of CUPE Local 339 and IBEW Local 1003 got to work with the help of many others. Chainsaws roared through the night. Roads were blocked to keep people away from downed power lines. The playground was cleaned up and safety measures on broken equipment put in place. In less than 24 hours, Lakeside was a picture of its old self — unless you looked up to see where those massive branches fell. So on July 1 Nelson headed down to Lakeside Park to celebrate our nation's birthday and our community. To our city workers, all we can say is: "Thank you, thank you, thank you."