Massive wind storms aren’t necessarily a bad thing: expert

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Work crews were out early this morning after a wind storm ripped through Metro Vancouver yesterday. The storm forced BC Ferries to cancel multiple routes, knocked out power to more than 100,000 customers and brought down trees all over the south coast.

Stanley Park was closed for a time because of falling trees and debris. This morning, crews were out in the park cleaning up.

Old growth trees were knocked down near Prospect Point, and one expert says that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

UBC Forestry Professor Steve Mitchell says windstorms are a good thing in the long-term. “It’s very inconvenient for humans but from an ecological point of view, the kind of damage that occurs during these storms when you have individual or groups of trees coming down, those create places for regeneration.”

“In the long term, the forests are adapted to this kind of wind disturbance. Many species, like Hemlock, are perfectly adapted to regenerating in the gaps of the shade of the older trees,” explains Mitchell.

If you’re a home owner living in a forested area and are worried about the trees close to your home, Mitchell recommends getting an arborist to check them out.