BC Hydro crews continue working to restore power to customers after a massive windstorm on Thursday.
Hydro reported Monday (Dec. 24) it had restored power to more than 600,000 customers since the windstorm hit on Thursday, including all customers in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley affected by the storm. Approximately 23,000 customers remain without power on Vancouver Island and the Southern Gulf Islands.
Crews from the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley were on the first ferries this morning to Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands to assist with repairing the remaining damage. Contractor crews from Alberta and the East Coast have also been brought in to assist.
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Restoring remaining customers continues to be a challenge due to the extent of the damage. Hundreds of outages remain that crews have to attend to individually to make repairs, which includes restringing hundreds of spans of power lines, and replacing power poles and transformers.
Some homes in the Parksville Qualicum Beach area, especially in rural areas, were still without power this morning, four days after a major wind storm blasted through Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland.
According to BC Hydro’s outage map, some homes in Nanoose Bay, Errington, a portion of French Creek, Hilliers, Whiskey Creek, Coombs and Qualicum Bay are still without power.
For a full list, go to www.bchydro.com/power-outages/app/outage-list.html and click Vancouver Island, North.
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For Parksville-Qualicum Beach residents still without power following the windstorm earlier this week, the warming centre set up at the Qualicum Beach Civic Centre (747 Jones Street, Qualicum Beach) will remain open Dec. 24, until 6 p.m.
Also available at the Qualicum Beach Civic Centre for Parksville-Qualicum residents still without power is access to showers, the ability to charge mobile devices and a warm beverage.