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November 2, 2009
Are you ready for storm season?
Posted by Dag Sharman
Does your family have emergency supplies for at least 72 hours? Does your family have an emergency plan? Does everyone in your family know that plan?
If you answered no to any of those questions, then you are not as prepared for an emergency as you should be. That may sound harsh, but the reality is in an emergency you will be safer, and even more comfortable, if you are prepared.
While we are very proud of how reliable we've made our system, there will be power outages. We are an industry leader when it comes to reliability. Compared to Canadian Electricity Association members as a whole, BC Hydro has fewer and shorter outages per customer served. But all electrical systems have outages, and we are just entering storm season when BC Hydro faces its biggest challenge of the year.
To understand our challenge, consider the big picture. If you think trouble-shooting a problem with your DVD player is tricky, imagine this: we have 75,000 kilometres of power lines and almost 300,000 transformers in this province supported by 888,000 poles running from the dams in the north over icy mountains, through wind whipped valleys, along rushing rivers, down busy roadways and laneways to your house.
To provide you with power when you need it, electricity has to survive a long and difficult journey.
As Little Red Riding Hood found on her journey to Grandma's house, sometimes there's trouble waiting. Our wolf in waiting, so to speak, is the wind and trees – they can be a very destructive combination. The incredibly powerful wind storms best known for destroying ancient trees in Stanley Park also threw massive trees into power lines and equipment time and time again.
At its peak on December 15, 2006 approximately 240,000 customers were without power. While power was restored to 80% of them within 24 hours, in some cases the damage was so extensive it took days to repair. It's a reminder that emergencies do happen, and it is very important to be prepared. So go to our home outages preparation page to be sure you have all you need to keep your family safe if the power does go out this winter.
When the wind whips up, or the snow piles up, and the power does go out, keep in mind our current outages page will have the latest information, and it is accessible from your mobile wireless device. See our outage info on your mobile page to see how to set that up.
Reporters can also call our community relations teams in the regions, or the media relations team in the Lower Mainland.
Storm season is upon us, and I can assure you BC Hydro is ready. Please make sure you and your family are ready too.
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