Photo: Contributed

Lana Derkach took this photo from her window of tree branches falling on cars in the parking lot of the Parnell Apartments in North Kamloops.

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Two people were injured when a tree fell in a downtown park on Friday evening, while a car was crushed by falling branches in a parking lot in North Kamloops during a severe thunderstorm.

The Kamloops Fire Department responded to 14 emergency calls in the first hour of yesterday’s storm, Fire Chief Ken Uzeloc told Castanet Kamloops.

“There was debris flying everywhere,” Uzeloc said.

He said Riverside Park was temporarily closed due to concerns about falling trees, adding that he had heard one person was injured by a fallen tree and was taken to hospital by paramedics.

Ashley Racette, communications officer for BC Emergency Health Services, confirmed that three ambulances were called to the park at 5:54 p.m. Friday in response to a medical incident and two patients were transported to hospital in stable condition after receiving emergency medical care.

She said that during the storm in Kamloops, a BCEHS ambulance at the Henry Grube Centre was also struck by a falling tree branch, damaging the vehicle’s windshield.

“The paramedics were unharmed and no one was taken to the hospital. The ambulance is being repaired,” Racette said in an email.

During the storm, a tree also fell on a vehicle in the parking lot of the Parnell Apartments on Tranquille Road. Although the driver was not in the vehicle at the time, the roof of the vehicle appeared to have been dented by the fallen tree.

There were several reports of downed trees in the Kamloops area during Friday night’s storm. Images posted on social media showed fallen branches on Schubert Drive on the North Shore around 6:30 p.m. and uprooted trees along Springhill Road in Sahali.

Another post also showed what appeared to be building materials blown off a roof at the Royal Inland Hospital.

Environment Canada issued a severe weather warning for the entire Southern Interior region on Friday. The storm that passed through Kamloops brought strong gusts of wind, thunder and lightning – and about 25 mm of rain to the Kamloops area, according to Environment Canada.

According to fire spokesman Mikhail Elsay, 1,069 lightning strikes were recorded across the Kamloops Fire Centre on Friday. He said the storm came from southeast of the fire centre and caused an even number of lightning strikes across the region, with the Kamloops, Merritt, Vernon and Penticton areas “bearing the brunt.”

He said the wildfire center believes there could be new wildfires in the fire center when the rains subside and the area dries out soon.

According to a Twitter post by YKA, more than a thousand buildings in Brocklehurst briefly lost power during the storm, including Kamloops Airport, which was able to continue operating normally thanks to emergency power supplies.

Rain continued throughout Saturday in the Kamloops area, but eased in the afternoon.

PPE URGENT: Building materials blown off the roof of the Royal Inland Hospital.#kamloops

— Kamscan (@Kamscan) 24 August 2024