Oh boy! Are we getting a pounding or what? Expect more windy conditions, BC folks.
[H3]Mother Nature prepares to batter B.C. coast again[/H3] [P class=timeStamp]Updated Wed. Dec. 20 2006 1:59 PM ET
[P class=storyAttributes]CTV.ca News Staff
Windstorm-weary British Columbians living on the coast are bracing for another blast from the Pacific.
Environment Canada issued wind warnings on Wednesday morning for the entire coast, extending from Victoria to the Queen Charlotte Islands.
Brisk southeast winds of 70 to 100 kilometres are expected to batter the north coast and the northern sections of Vancouver Island.
Winds of 50 to 80 kilometres will hit the south coast by the evening, gusting to 90 kilometres an hour over eastern Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast.
Southwest winds of 50 to 80 kilometres are expected to develop Thursday morning over Victoria, the southern Gulf Islands, Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.
The windstorm could be the fourth of its kind in recent weeks to hammer the West Coast with near-hurricane force winds.
BC Hydro crews are still working to restore power to the thousands of customers who remain in the dark on Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland, and the Northern Interior, after a monster storm knocked out electricity last Friday.
That storm blacked out about 250,000 homes at its peak and brought down more than 1,000 trees in Vancouver's landmark Stanley Park.
Vancouver Mayer Sam Sullivan surveyed the damage to the park on Wednesday.
"It will likely take at least a generation before we see the park restored to its former glory, but I know everyone in our community is committed to making this happen," Sullivan said in a news release.
The clean-up is expected to take months, as crews cut down damaged trees, haul away fallen branches and clear roads.
Vancouver's Board of Parks and Recreation may consider using commercial logging trucks to help remove the trees and speed up the process.
Stanley Park measures about 400 hectares and first opened to the public on Oct. 29, 1889. Perhaps its most unique feature is the 8.8-kilometre long Seawall, but the barrier was also damaged by the wind.
With files from The Canadian Press
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