Near-record gusts knock out power to 150K on Vancouver Island [Video]

The clean up was well underway Wednesday on Vancouver Island after a night of chaos.

In East Sooke, where a massive tree toppled onto a home, a crane was brought in to help with removal.

Tuesday night’s bomb cyclone left a path of destruction in its wake across Vancouver Island. Winds gusting up to 170 kilometres per hour off the north coast of the island knocked trees down across roads, snapping power lines and creating havoc on highways.

The fierce wind lifted and tossed a small aircraft off the Courtenay airstrip like a toy plane, and sent large branches flying, shutting down Highway 4, where traffic was backed up Wednesday morning, cutting off communities like Port Alberni from the rest of Vancouver Island.

Meanwhile, old growth trees that fell near Tofino left folks there stranded overnight.

“(It) basically cut Tofino in half on the highway so people couldn’t get through, …