As emergency crews prepared for a blustery night on B.C.'s South Coast, officials with Vancouver's crown jewel Stanley Park say they are ready if a windy blast hits the popular park.
Meteorologists have issued a wind warning for Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, and Vancouver Island. Winds of up to 90 kilometres an hour are expected - with Stanley Park right in the path.
In December 2006, a westerly wind slammed into the park, uprooting and slicing up thousands of trees. The damage was heartbreaking. Since then, the city has worked hard to make sure that never happens again.
Park crews went in and "wind firmed" about 10 kilometres of new, exposed forest. The trees were pruned in a spiral - taking out every third branch - which allows the wind to feather through the tree rather than slamming into the trunk.
The Director of Stanley Park District, Jim Lowden says it's important to have a solid forest edge to brace for storms like this.
"If you have weak trees in front line and haven't thinned them, the ones behind them will start to go too."
Since the 2006 storm about a quarter of the shredded trees and felled trunks still haven't been removed, which park officials say is all part of regenerating the forest.
Meanwhile the wind expected tonight is a southerly wind which means it will have to travel through the forest before swinging onto Prospect Point.
If the winds do pick up tonight, the park will only be closed or evacuated if a tree falls. Once that happens, crews will move in to close gates to keep people out.
Crews are also on standby to get people out of the park as quickly as possible.
Last winter, there were several wind storms and the park didn't lose a single tree.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Leah Hendry
