B.C. Hydro says weather tied to Saturday’s storms left up to 80,000 homes and businesses without power at its peak, with more outages possible as additional storms move in.
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Power outages continued to spread across British Columbia on Saturday as waves of storms brought high winds and rain, according to BC Hydro.
Witney Deane, a spokesperson for BC Hydro, said crews were dealing with outages in multiple areas at once, noting, “You’re fixing one area, only to have to move over to another area quickly.”
Deane said the province saw about 80,000 homes and businesses without power at the peak of the impact, while also warning that the cumulative number of affected customers is higher and expected to rise as more storms remain on the horizon throughout the week. She added, “Bringing heavy rains, and some of those winds may have more intense gusts than we had on Friday, so we’re preparing for that as well.”
The strongest gusts were reported as winds reaching the 90s around Metro Vancouver and north of 100 km/hr on Vancouver Island. Deane linked the conditions to damage risk, saying the drought-like conditions seen over much of the summer and fall weakened trees and made them more likely to fall onto power lines, contributing to outages.
The storm conditions also affected ferry service across the Georgia Strait. BC Ferries cancelled sailings Saturday evening, and said more cancellations are possible on Sunday, emphasizing that safety comes first.
BC Hydro urged people to prepare a 72-hour emergency kit, and it said people travelling with BC Ferries should keep a close eye on the status of their sailings.
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