A Campbell River woman is furious over damage unleashed on her home during last week’s powerful wind storm.
She’s angry because the damage is man-made, not crafted by the force of Mother Nature.
“Instead of a feel-good storm story, I’ve got a vandalism story,” said Treena Lancaster, who is less than impressed with the mess that’s been left on her hands.
The front yard of Lancaster’s home at 3200 York Road, was ripped and chewed up by vehicles that used her grass as a turn-around route.
Wind gusts, reportedly up to 138 kilometres per hour, knocked down a tree and power lines in the middle of the street, effectively cutting off half of York Road.
Lancaster, who admits she did not see the culprits but heard reports from neighbours, said vehicles were pulling into her driveway, going through her front yard to get to her next door neighbour’s driveway, and then pulling out into the street to avoid the fallen tree.
A chunk of grass about five feet wide on Lancaster’s rural property was torn up and part of her underground electric fence was also damaged by vehicles driving over top of the lawn.
The fence is used to prevent her dog from running out on to the road.
“I suspect we would pay between $3-5,000 to tear up the lawn and re-do the whole thing,” Lancaster said.
“It’s not covered by insurance because it’s not storm damage – it’s vandalism.”
Lancaster said she’s frustrated that people didn’t think about what they were doing and showed blatant disrespect for her property.
She said a neighbour told her that after the first car drove through her yard, other cars followed, thinking it was okay.
Lancaster said she firmly believes it is an obvious case of vandalism and is considering reporting the incident to the RCMP.
“They tore up the grass at the side of my yard – a major portion of my yard,” Lancaster said.
“They could have turned around in my driveway but instead they turned around in my yard and now it’s destroyed.”