BC Hydro has crews working around the clock to get power up and running on Vancouver Island and parts of the Lower Mainland, after a storm knocked out power to thousands.
Across the province, more than 170,000 people lost power overnight because of a storm that touched down Friday evening – cancelling a number of BC Ferries sailings that night.
Power was restored to about 50,000 people overnight, and by 7 a.m., the total number of people without electricity had dropped to about 120,000 across the province.
By 9:30 a.m., about 4,000 people remained without power on Vancouver Island.
Most of the outages were located in the North Island. In Campbell River, more than 3,000 people were without power around 9:30 a.m. due to a wire falling in the region.
BC Hydro said crews were at the scene working on repairs.
In southern Vancouver Island, about 450 BC Hydro customers were without power in the Port Renfrew area, while more than 100 customers were in the dark in the Cowichan Valley by 9:30 a.m.
“BC Hydro understands that outages are disruptive and thanks its customers for their patience,” said BC Hydro in a release early Saturday morning.
“All available BC Hydro crews and contractor crews will continue to work around-the-clock until power is restored.”
If you spot a downed power line, BC Hydro says you should call 911 and stay least 10 metres away from the downed lines.
“BC Hydro crews will work with first responders to make the area safe,” said the company.
This #BCStorm system knocked down many trees & crews will continue to be busy repairing damaged power lines, poles and other equipment Here’s an update from our team: https://t.co/I21X7GSUSh
📞Report fallen power lines: 911
📱Outage updates: https://t.co/JY7BGKJAWw pic.twitter.com/5QxerCjpjo— BC Hydro (@bchydro) November 11, 2023
Adam Chan
