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Kelowna  

Storm pounds valley

Alanna Kelly

UPDATE: 6:20 a.m.

Power lines were brought down throughout the region during Tuesday night's wind storm.

Lines were reported down in West Kelowna, on Highway 1 east of Canoe, and a tree came down across Highway 97B just south of Salmon Arm.

Both highway incidents closed the routes temporarily overnight.

Power was also reported out in the Kettle Valley area of Kelowna and in Armstrong.

Castanet has a reporter going up in a helicopter this morning to survey damage across the Kelowna area.

Stay tuned for updates.

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ORIGINAL: 10:25 pm.

Severe wave action and high winds have very much arrived in the Okanagan, with Mother Nature unleashing her fury.

High winds are pushing a storm surge of water in Okanagan Lake, creating a serious threat to shoreline properties. Wind gusts are expected to reach up to 70 km/h.

Many beaches around Okanagan Lake have been fully submerged and large waves are crashing into bladder dams and gabon barriers placed against rising flood waters.

Nicolette Bentley lives near the Vernon Yacht Club, and the waves caused by the high winds destroyed a good portion of her dock.

Just around the corner from the yacht club, Kin Beach is completely submerged as water has consumed the sandy portion of the popular Vernon park.

Emergency workers were on scene at Rotary Beach in Kelowna working to place more sandbags along the shore as waves crashed over the barriers.

Multiple docks have been pushed to the shore at Mushroom Beach in Kelowna.

BC Hydro is reporting multiple outages due to damaging winds across the province.

One resident living on Westside Road said the road is closed with trees all along it and the power is down.

Highway 97B near Salmon Arm is closed due to a tree that was blown over, blocking the highway.

Powerlines have been knocked down at the Pinewood Mobile Home Park on Lenz Road on the Westside and BC Hydro is reporting several outages. Power is also reported out in parts of Armstrong.

“Emergency crews are out inspecting and assessing flood protection measures and infrastructure to determine the top priorities for further action,” Central Okanagan Emergency Operations reports.

The winds are also causing concerns in the Lumby area due to a forest fire. Crews are on the ground battling the blaze that is on Cooper Mountain and can be seen from town.



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