At 3:15 today, James and I had just returned home. The wind was gushing and the trees were being whipped around. I decided to film the wind because it was so intense, howling and twisting the trees about. Just as I finished the first clip I turned around to film up the street and a huge tree on the corner of First Ave. and Maple came crashing down. I just missed catching it on film. One crack, no other sound, and then it was covering the entire intersection. The tree just missed a car parked behind the stop sign, and just missed a woman who was crossing the intersection.
My guess is the tree is 60-70 ft but I’m never very good at these things. The building is a three-story apartment and the trees are taller than the building.
The wind is still howling.
Here’s 5 photos. I’ll post the video soon.
UPDATE: This story is NowPublic (photos and video).
UPDATE 2: Here’s my YouTube video of the wind storm and tree knocked down in Kitsilano (post-fall).