BANFF – High winds toppled several trees in the Bow Valley on Wednesday (Sept. 26), with some crashing down on vehicles.
Just before 8 p.m., 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. for a tree that came down on private property along Banff Avenue.
The tree blocked the entrance to the Royal Canadian Lodge and sidewalk.
“The Town’s municipal parks team cleared the tree from the roadway and sidewalk,” Darrah said.
In the same windstorm, a tree came down on Mountain Avenue at Park Avenue, covering the multi-use trail.
Darrah said seven members of the Banff Fire Department responded to the call at about 8:10 pm, along with one RCMP member and a Town employee from the operations department.
“This was wrapped up by 8:30 p.m. as well,” he said.
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.
