Ann-Marie Metten, executive director of Historic Joy Kogawa House in Vancouver, says a huge limb of the aging cherry tree was torn off during the storm on Tuesday night.
The backyard tree is the focus of Kogawa's children's book Naomi's Tree, which became a symbol of her desire to return home after she and thousands of other Japanese Canadians were interned during the Second World War.
Metten says the old cherry tree is diseased and can't be saved, but that there are already plans to plant a new tree in almost the same location, using a cutting from the original.
Although the remains of the tree are "somewhat hazardous," Metten says the city is giving her organization time to decide how to salvage what's left.
"People care about this tree and they are aware that it's not going to be easy to take it down,'' Metten says in an interview.
The loss of the tree won't be the end of it, though, she says.
USA
UK
France
Germany
Russia
India
Australia