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Operational update

BC Hydro crews working to restore power as windstorm continues

Friday, 4 p.m. update

VANCOUVER: Since Tuesday night, BC Hydro crews have restored power to nearly 390,000 customers – or 98 per cent of the nearly 400,000 customers that were impacted by the significant storm this week.

Crews have encountered significant damage that has led to replacing hundreds of spans of wires, and dozens of poles and other electrical equipment. Since the storm began, BC Hydro has used all available resources to support with the extensive restoration efforts following the intense windstorm that brought drought-damaged trees and branches down onto electrical equipment across Vancouver Island and the South Coast. As of 4 p.m. on Friday, about 5,000 customers on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands remain without power.  

In effort to get nearly all customers restored today, BC Hydro has more than 600 workers, including BC Hydro crews, contractor crews, vegetation crews and others, replacing and repairing damaged equipment to restore power to those customers in the most difficult to access and heavily damaged areas. In Beaver Creek near Port Alberni, for example, a 40-person crew is working today to repair 70 spans of damaged power lines and replace 18 power poles.

Although a new storm system is approaching, please know that customers who have been without power since Tuesday's outage are the priority. BC Hydro is hoping nearly every customer will be restored today – with the exception of small pockets at the end of long and remote lines.

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. If the outage impacting your home or business is not on our map, please call us at 1 800 BCHYDRO (1 800 224 9376) so we can address that.

Thursday, 6:30 a.m. update

VANCOUVER: BC Hydro crews have restored power to more than 290,000 customers – or more than 90 per cent – of the nearly 320,000 customers impacted by the significant windstorm. 

As of 6:30 a.m., about 28,000 customers are without power on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. Due to the extensive damage, crews have been working around-the-clock to restore power since Tuesday night, replacing dozens of spans of power line as well power poles and other electrical equipment.

Crews will continue to work throughout the day and BC Hydro expects to have the majority of the remaining customers restored today – with the possible exception of some customers in areas with significant damage.

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.

Wednesday, 5 p.m. update

VANCOUVER: BC Hydro crews have restored power to nearly 80 per cent of customers impacted by the ongoing windstorm. Of the more than 300,000 customers impacted since last night, about 238,000 customers have been restored. 

As of 5 p.m., about 65,000 customers are without power. The majority are on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. The hardest hit areas are currently Nanaimo, Victoria, Duncan, Ladysmith and Port Hardy. 

BC Hydro crews have been active since outages began last night, working overnight and throughout the day. All available BC Hydro crews, contractor crews and vegetation crews are working hard to restore power as quickly and safely as possible. BC Hydro has also moved crews from the Lower Mainland over to Vancouver Island today to support with restoration efforts.

While the response has been strong, crews have encountered some challenges that have slowed progress in some areas. These include access challenges due to the heavy debris on some roads and highways, and sustained strong winds in some areas that are making it too dangerous for crews to begin work. In addition, the ongoing poor conditions have also limited BC Hydro’s ability to perform helicopter patrols to do damage assessments along some of the more remote and difficult areas to access, and ferry service has been limited in some areas. 

Due to the extensive damage, BC Hydro expects to have some customers out overnight and potentially longer because of the adverse conditions and level of damage incurred. 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.

Wednesday, 11:30 a.m. update

VANCOUVER: BC Hydro crews continue to make progress restoring power to customers impacted by the ongoing windstorm. Of the more than 300,000 customers impacted since last night, more than 210,000 customers have been restored. 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 11:30 a.m., about 90,000 customers are without power. The majority – about 80,000 – are on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. The hardest hit areas are currently Nanaimo, Victoria, Duncan, Ladysmith and Port Hardy. 

Drought-damaged trees and branches came down on electrical equipment during the windstorm causing extensive damage. BC Hydro has had all available BC Hydro crews and contractor crews working since last night, and work will continue throughout the day. Resources will be brought over from the Lower Mainland to support restoration efforts on Vancouver Island today as well.  

Crews are busy replacing power lines, poles and other equipment to get as many customers restored as quickly as possible. They have, however, encountered access challenges due to the heavy debris on some roads. In some areas, the strong winds have made it too unsafe to begin work, and crews will begin restoration work as soon as the conditions improve. 

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.

Wednesday, 6:30 a.m. update

VANCOUVER: 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.

Tuesday, 10 p.m. update

VANCOUVER: A significant windstorm sweeping through Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, the Lower Mainland and the Sunshine Coast has impacted 225,000 customers – with additional outages expected as the strong winds continue. 

As of 10 p.m., there are 181,000 customers without power. This includes:

  • 133,000 customers on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands; and,
  • 48,000 customers in the Lower Mainland and on the Sunshine Coast.

In preparation for the storm, BC Hydro sent crews home early on Tuesday to ensure a strong overnight response. All available BC Hydro crews and contractor crews are responding to the extensive damage caused by branches and trees contacting BC 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.   

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. 

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.

Contact:
BC Hydro Media Relations
e. media@bchydro.com
p. 604 928 6468