Jan. 22 update: Most outages restored, but windstorm leaves wake of fallen trees
High winds uprooted a large tree that fell across Gore Street in Vancouver's Chinatown Sunday morning, striking a worker at a local food market.
The tree's outer branches hit a worker at Sunrise Market on Powell Street. Robert Low, who works at the market, told CTV News a gust of wind blew it down.
He said the worker's arm was bruised and she went to the hospital to get it checked at the insistence of emergency personnel who attended the scene.
Low said city crews then closed the road and began cleaning up the tree using a wood chipper.
Steve, a security guard at the market who didn't want to give his last name, said he saw the tree fall and hit the woman.
"You just heard this crack," he said. "You didn't even realize what happened until it was on the ground."
He said she is a casual worker who was out sweeping the sidewalks. The tree knocked her to the ground.
"She was in shock at the time so I don't think she felt too much pain," he said. "But tomorrow she'll definitely be feeling pain."
He said it could have been much worse if she'd been even a few feet from where she was and a larger part of the tree hit her.
The incident happened during a wind warning issued by Environment Canada. The agency ended the warning around 1 p.m. Saturday.
