BANFF – A tree that crashed on power lines during a violent windstorm forced a power outage in parts of Banff.
FortisAlberta is working to reroute the main power feed to bring back electricity early Friday morning (Sept. 27) to all areas, but residences in the Whiskey Creek neighbourhood where the most damage occurred will be without power for a longer time.
Town of Banff officials say the Banff Fire Department has cleared downed trees.
The power outage affected several areas on the north side of Banff, including the train station and bus station area, Banff Ave from Elk Street to Fox Street, IGA, Banff Elementary School, and Banff Daycare, Mount Edith, Cougar Street and Squirrel Street homes.
“Thanks to FortisAlberta’s fast-working crew, the power was restored to almost the entire affected area in north Banff,” states the Town of Banff’s Facebook post.
“Work continues to restore power lines in the Whiskey Creek area.”
Two days ago, high winds toppled several trees in the Bow Valley on Wednesday, with some crashing down on vehicles.
On Wednesday night, eight Banff firefighters and two RCMP officers responded to a call about a tree coming down onto Mount Norquay Road from the west side, hitting a car, as wind gusts pummelled the region.
“Unfortunately, a line of vehicles was waiting as a train crossed Norquay Road and the tree came down on the back of a small sedan waiting in line, just south of the Banff entrance sign,” said Jason Darrah, director of communications for the Town of Banff.
“There were no reported injuries but the vehicle was damaged. The site was cleared and responders left the scene at 8:30 p.m..”
In addition, the Town of Banff also received a call at about 1:35 p.m. Wednesday for a tree that came down on private property along Banff Avenue. The tree blocked the entrance to the Royal Canadian Lodge and sidewalk but municipal staff cleared the tree.
In the same windstorm, a tree came down on Mountain Avenue at Park Avenue, covering the multi-use trail.
In Harvie Heights, there was a report of a tree toppling at a private residence and smashing onto a truck.
Environment Canada had posted warnings in the lead-up to the wind storm, projecting damaging gusts up to 80-100 km/h or more.
