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BC HYDRO AT WORK

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Crews clear snow at McEwan Substation near Prince George

Thousands of BC Hydro customers in the north experienced power outages this week due to a wind storm, as  wind speeds on the ground in some areas peaked at 125 kilometres/hour.

Power restoration was made difficult by snowy conditions. BC Hydro crews were faced with more than five feet (about 160 cm) of snow at McEwan substation on Wednesday when they arrived to fix a fuse problem with the transformer.

Substation was buried in snow

Crews first had to use shovels to uncover an entire substation buried under snow, before being able to restore power.

Located 56 kilometres north of Prince George, the substation provides power to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

The areas hardest hit by the storm this week were: Fort St. John, Chetwynd, Dawson Creek, Terrace, Burns Lake, Fort Nelson, Tumbler Ridge, Fort St. James, Hazelton, New Hazelton, Nass Valley, Hudson’s Hope and Smithers. BC Hydro brought in crews from all over the province to help with restoration efforts.