Richmond residents are asked to report damaged trees to the City of Richmond after last week's snow storm.
According to BC Hydro's list of restored outages, five power outages in Richmond on Jan. 17 were caused by trees down across wires, impacting more than 7,000 customers.
The Richmond News recently spotted a tree near Walmart along Alderbridge Way that was cut down after the snow storm, and a photo submitted by reader Allisa Ritchie on Monday shows another pine tree along the Steveston Park walkway that fell on the fence of a nearby home.
It is unclear whether the snow storm caused downed trees, and the City of Richmond does not have a formal inventory of trees affected by the snow, but city spokesperson Clay Adams told the News parks staff are "checking for debris and broken limbs and pruning as necessary."
Adams explained branches and limbs of trees may break due to the weight of snow or ice, and residents should monitor trees in their neighbourhood during extreme weather events for signs of damage.
"While shaking or brushing snow off smaller woody plants and shrubs can reduce damage, doing the same on larger trees is not a good idea as it can actually exacerbate breakages, especially on more brittle trees like pines," he said.
Residents are advised to leave large trees alone and monitor and report the trees to the city as needed.
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