UPDATE: A release from BC Hydro early Wednesday morning, Nov. 20:
"BC Hydro crews made significant progress overnight restoring power to customers impacted by the windstorm. More than 175,000 customers have been restored – or nearly two-thirds of the more than 272,000 impacted. However, with strong winds expected to continue today in some areas, particularly on Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast, further outages are expected.
As of 6:30 a.m., about 95,000 customers are without power. The majority – about 90,000 – are on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, and about 5,000 are in the Lower Mainland and on the Sunshine Coast. The hardest hit areas are currently Nanaimo, Victoria, Duncan and Ladysmith.
Drought-damaged trees and branches came down on electrical equipment during the windstorm causing significant damage. BC Hydro had all available BC Hydro crews and contractor crews working overnight to restore power, and that work will continue today. Crews are busy replacing power lines, poles and other equipment to get as many customers restored as quickly as possible, but have encountered access challenges as a result of the heavy debris on some roads as well as areas where the wind was too strong overnight to complete the work safely.
Crews are receiving reports of downed power lines. A downed power line is an emergency. Call 911 and stay at least 10 metres back. BC Hydro crews will work with first responders to make the area safe.
Crews will continue to work around-the-clock until all customers are restored. BC Hydro wants to thank its customers for their patience, and it will continue to provide updated estimates for power restoration as they become available at bchydro.com/outages."
ORIGINAL STORY:
Thousands of Vancouver Island residents were without power, and several highways closed Tuesday evening after a 'bomb cyclone' brought high winds to the B.C. coast.
At approximately 10 p.m. on Nov. 19, more than 133,000 BC Hydro customers were without power. Emergency crews responded to multiple motor vehicle incidents and reports of downed trees throughout the evening, including an incident where a tree fell on a semi-truck.
Port Alberni RCMP announced that Highway 4 east of Port Alberni was closed in both directions due to "unsafe conditions." Others closed included Highway 14 west of Sooke; Highway 18 at Hillcrest; Highway 28 from Gold River to Campbell River and the Marine Circle Route. Additional closures were possible as the storm moves through. Check www.drivebc.ca for up-to-date information.
In preparation for the storm, BC Hydro sent crews home early on Tuesday to ensure a strong overnight response, according to a press release which noted all available crews and contractor crews are responding to the extensive damage caused by branches and trees contacting Hydro’s electrical infrastructure.
"While the ongoing wind is making it difficult to begin restoration work in some areas safely and some customers are expected to be out overnight, crews will continue working around-the-clock to repair damaged power lines, poles and other electrical equipment until all customers are restored," stated the release.
Wind warnings began Tuesday afternoon, with BC Hydro crews busy in a number of areas across the Island. View the outage map here. If you have any photos of damage from your area of Vancouver Island, email them to philip.wolf@blackpress.ca.
— With a file from Elena Rardon
