Person trapped on broken White Rock Pier rescued

WHITE ROCK (NEWS 1130) – One person who was trapped on a White Rock Pier has been lifted out by an Air Force helicopter.

Videos posted to social media show the helicopter lifting a person off the pier. The pier was partially destroyed during the windstorm which also sent boats crashing into its side. Parts of it buckled and fell into the water, leaving a man stranded in the middle and unable to return to land.

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One witness said there were normally 20 boats docked at the pier, and some had sunk or detached from where they were docked.

“There seems to be six or eight of them have gotten loose, and they’re banging up against the side of the pier,” Dave says. “It seems like two of the larger boats are banging up hard enough that it’s taking out the pier.”

WATCH: White Rock Pier destroyed by big waves during windstorm (Courtesy: David Sharpe)

Rick Dhaliwal with Sportsnet 650 says he saw the waves overtaking the pier, and even coming up onto land and hitting parked vehicles.

“It was strong, and people were having trouble getting into some of the restaurants, opening and closing them. The wind is really, really picking up out there, the water and the wind. I got out of there pretty quick,” he says. “It’s all water. It’s all consumed by water right now.”

The damage is the latest damage coming from the windstorm that has toppled trees, blown away barns and injured at least one person.

– With files from Sonia Aslam, Charmaine de Silva, Marcella Bernardo, Amanda Wawryk, Lauren Boothby