LondonUnderground
<font color=purple>Please stand clear of the doors
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2009
- Messages
- 22,127
VANCOUVER — Vancouver woke up to smashed storefronts, broken bottles and garbage-strewn streets Thursday morning, as cleanup crews continued working to clear the rubble from the mayhem that followed the Canucks' Stanley Cup loss.
A trail of bloody footprints outside a coffee shop marked the pavement next to heaps of broken glass, while over-turned perfume counters and mannequin limbs lay on the first floors of Sears and the Bay.
"It's devastating. It's disgusting," said Mekaela Brion, a Yaletown-area resident whose apartment became a haven for 16 of her friends who were trapped downtown last night.
"It's on Facebook and YouTube all over the world. People think this is Vancouver, but it's not. It's just a small group of idiots."
Plywood covered windows of many stores along Seymour, Georgia and Granville and police tape lined the sidewalk. The streets, except Granville, were open to traffic and already filled with morning commuters.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson's office said he would be conducting a tour of the areas most heavily damaged in the riots, which saw cars overturned and set ablaze vehicles, business windows smashed and fights in the streets, as police in riot gear struggled to contain the violence.
Wynne Powell, president and CEO of London Drugs, which had an outlet closed Thursday after suffering significant damage in the riot, said it's difficult to put a dollar amount on the losses at this time. He expressed gratitude his staff had escaped unharmed.
"This is a sad moment in the history of Vancouver," Powell said.
The company had eight additional security officers on staff and the same resistant glass and secure metal grill barriers that were in place for the 2010 Olympics, but "the sheer number and force of the rioters far exceeded the Georgia/Granville corridor's barrier capabilities," he added.
"We are thankful the Vancouver Police Department were able to protect our staff — that is our No. 1 priority."
Dazed fans still in Canucks jerseys and face paint walked among the mess as many left their hotels early this morning to catch ferries or transit back home.
Courtney Colcough, 20, travelled from Port Alberni, B.C., for the final game. The temporary Canucks tattoos on her cheeks were smeared and she admitted she hadn't got much sleep.
"We couldn't even get back to the hotel," she said. "Police were holding the crowd back, and I guess that was the only way to control them."
She said she saw fires break out on Georgia Street only minutes after the game ended. She and her friends stayed until the scene got ugly, but then became trapped in the crowd and couldn't get back to their downtown hotel until late that night.
Longtime Vancouver residents voiced their horror at seeing the city in shambles, again, reminiscent according to some of the riots that followed the team's loss in the Stanley Cup final in 1994.
"I can remember the riot 17 years ago, and I think it shows society that there's always a group that causes civil unrest," said Peter Wong, who carried a camera on his way to work, to capture what he called an "artistic sadness."
A trail of bloody footprints outside a coffee shop marked the pavement next to heaps of broken glass, while over-turned perfume counters and mannequin limbs lay on the first floors of Sears and the Bay.
"It's devastating. It's disgusting," said Mekaela Brion, a Yaletown-area resident whose apartment became a haven for 16 of her friends who were trapped downtown last night.
"It's on Facebook and YouTube all over the world. People think this is Vancouver, but it's not. It's just a small group of idiots."
Plywood covered windows of many stores along Seymour, Georgia and Granville and police tape lined the sidewalk. The streets, except Granville, were open to traffic and already filled with morning commuters.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson's office said he would be conducting a tour of the areas most heavily damaged in the riots, which saw cars overturned and set ablaze vehicles, business windows smashed and fights in the streets, as police in riot gear struggled to contain the violence.
Wynne Powell, president and CEO of London Drugs, which had an outlet closed Thursday after suffering significant damage in the riot, said it's difficult to put a dollar amount on the losses at this time. He expressed gratitude his staff had escaped unharmed.
"This is a sad moment in the history of Vancouver," Powell said.
The company had eight additional security officers on staff and the same resistant glass and secure metal grill barriers that were in place for the 2010 Olympics, but "the sheer number and force of the rioters far exceeded the Georgia/Granville corridor's barrier capabilities," he added.
"We are thankful the Vancouver Police Department were able to protect our staff — that is our No. 1 priority."
Dazed fans still in Canucks jerseys and face paint walked among the mess as many left their hotels early this morning to catch ferries or transit back home.
Courtney Colcough, 20, travelled from Port Alberni, B.C., for the final game. The temporary Canucks tattoos on her cheeks were smeared and she admitted she hadn't got much sleep.
"We couldn't even get back to the hotel," she said. "Police were holding the crowd back, and I guess that was the only way to control them."
She said she saw fires break out on Georgia Street only minutes after the game ended. She and her friends stayed until the scene got ugly, but then became trapped in the crowd and couldn't get back to their downtown hotel until late that night.
Longtime Vancouver residents voiced their horror at seeing the city in shambles, again, reminiscent according to some of the riots that followed the team's loss in the Stanley Cup final in 1994.
"I can remember the riot 17 years ago, and I think it shows society that there's always a group that causes civil unrest," said Peter Wong, who carried a camera on his way to work, to capture what he called an "artistic sadness."
