Storm blows in with wind, water damage

BY

A fast moving storm swept through Canyon Lake Wednesday afternoon, uprooting several large trees in the community, flooding streets with rain runoff and damaging patio covers, docks and other personal and Association property.

Trash cans, lawn furniture and other items could be seen blowing or floating down streets. A full accounting of damages was not available before publication deadlines, and more stormy weather was predicted through Thursday.

One of the first downed trees to be reported was on Vacation Dr. near Old Wrangler. A large tree toppled across all lanes and briefly blocked traffic until Operations crews could get it cleared. Other trees were reported down on Old Wrangler, Gault Field, Mayflower and Cross Hill, though it’s expected there were many more.

Roe Lundgren posted a screen shot from a video of what looked like a lightning strike in Canyon Lake or Quail Valley, but said he saw no fire. Further information was not available.

One heartwarming story was provided by Ryan Clark, who was bringing his son and two friends home from Temescal Canyon High School just after the storm. As they drove past Gault Field, they noticed a large, double-trunked tree had fallen and taken out a large portion of the Major field fence.

Then they noticed the flag pole. The rope holding the U.S. flag had broken and the flag was hanging upside down and dragging on the ground. According to Ryan, the three 9th grade friends have grown up together in Canyon Lake and once were a part of Cub Scout Pack 346 where they learned the proper care of the American flag.

After having their picture taken with the tree truck, Ethan Clark, Connor Felt and Justin Gerlek went to rescue the flag. One of them climbed partway up the pole to release it from the halyard; then they carefully folded it in the way they learned as Cub Scouts and took it to the POA office.

If more pictures and information about storm becomes available, they will be posted with this article at www.fridayflyer.com.