VANCOUVER: The second in a series of damaging storms has hit British Columbia’s coast, causing significant outages and damage across the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.
At the height of the storm at 1 a.m. Sunday, approximately 135,000 customers were without power. As of 7 a.m. on Sunday, that number has dropped to approximately 63,000 as crews continue restoration efforts. The hardest-hit areas at this time include Surrey, Duncan, Port Hardy and Prince George, where strong winds have brought down trees and branches, damaging power lines, poles and other electrical equipment.
Since the series of storms began on Friday, there have been more than 380,000 customer outages across B.C., with crews restoring power to approximately 317,000 customers so far. However, winds remain strong in some areas and are not expected to subside until later today, which means more trees and branches could come down and cause additional damage and outages. Crews are continuing restoration work while also responding to new outages as they occur.
"We prepared for this storm and had crews and resources ready to respond immediately," said Whitney Deane, BC Hydro spokesperson. "Our crews are making good progress, but with strong winds continuing this morning, we expect to see additional damage and outages before conditions improve. We appreciate our customers' patience as our crews work as quickly and safely as possible to restore power."
BC Hydro will provide updated restoration estimates as crews reach outage locations, assess the damage and determine what repairs are required. BC Hydro's storm response will continue around the clock until power has been restored to all customers affected by the storms.
Stay safe and informed
Customers should stay at least 10 metres away from downed, damaged or low-hanging power lines and call 911 to report them.
Customers can get the latest information about outages and estimated restoration times through the new BC Hydro mobile app or at bchydro.com/outages.
With additional storms expected, customers are also encouraged to be prepared for potential outages by keeping their 72-hour emergency kits stocked and their mobile devices charged.
More information about storm and outage preparedness is available at bchydro.com/safety.