People living in Greater Victoria and West Vancouver Island are advised to secure loose items to prepare for incoming strong winds over the weekend.
Starting Saturday night and into Sunday morning, strong northwest or west winds that have the potential to cause power outages are forecast by Environment Canada.
“High winds may result in power outages and fallen tree branches,” a notice from Environment Canada says. “Be prepared to adjust your driving with changing road conditions due to high winds.”
Coastal communities on West Vancouver Island and areas near the Juan de Fuca Strait including Tofino, Ucuelet, Port Renfrew, Jordan River, Sooke and Victoria Harbour are covered by the special weather statement for strong winds issued Friday morning.
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BC Hydro says there are tips people can take to prepare their homes for an outage, including having an emergency kit and creating an outage plan.
Ensuring items like a flashlight, battery-operated radio, food and water are easily accessible is important to prevent scrambling to find these things if the power does go out. An emergency kit should be able to allow you to be self-sufficient for 72 hours in the event of a prolonged outage.
To create an outage plan, BC Hydro says it’s important to ensure everyone in your household has a copy and knows what to do, write down and exercise your plan, have a contingency plan, and have a list of local emergency contact numbers in an easily accessible place.
Laura Brougham
