The Stanley Park Disaster

Oh, Wow. I knew it would be bad. The News did say, after all, "thousands of trees" had fallen. I just didn't understand what "thousands of trees" means.

We drove into Stanley Park today, just to have a look. A branch fallen here, a tree there, oh dear. But as we approached Prospect Point we were absolutely shocked by the destruction.

They're just trees, you say. Oh, no. To see them toppled, splintered, and strewn like so many "Pick Up Stix" is devastating. It grips the heart, boggles the mind.

While it's easy enough to say that natural disasters like fires and storms are part of Mother Nature's way, what Mother Nature did to Stanley Park in December is almost beyond forgivable.

(I'm sorry I can't give you better pictures. I wish I'd had my "real" camera with me, but all I had was my digital phone, with photo-taking function that leaves a little too much to be desired.)

This is the parking lot at Prospect Point. With the piles of logs awaiting transport to the lumber mills, it looks like a logging camp.

It was so strange - many parts of the park were perfectly fine, and many others showed some evidence of that a storm had passed by leaving one or two trees uprooted, certainly shocking enough, but Prospect Point is truly a disaster area.

This picture was taken near Second Beach. Like many others, this tree had been ripped out of the ground, roots and all, and dropped on it side. I don't know the lady who stood next to it to pose for her husband but I was more than a little offended. She didn't seem to understand that she was standing in the middle of a tragedy. ("Look, Honey, isn't it HUGE?")

Ah, well. She probably didn't ride her bike past these points with her sister, play hookey and spend an entire sunny Wednesday in the park flirting with a new boy.

Yes, she probably thought I was a bit of a nut, with tears streaming as I took a picture of her standing next to what had once and for many years been a magnificent guardian of the most spectacular park in the world.