Thousands without power on Vancouver Island as storm hits Thursday

A map of the power outages across Vancouver Island as of 11:20 a.m. on Dec. 20, 2018. (BC Hydro).

With a wind warning over all of Vancouver Island, BC Hydro is working Thursday morning to restore power to more than 33,300 customers Thursday, as of 11:35 a.m.

Many areas are affected and new power outages being reported every hour.

BC Hydro says there was a transmission circuit failure that knocked out power to more than 2,200 customers in Tofino, stretching over a large area to nearby Islands and along the Pacific Rim Highway.

In Ucluelet, more than 2,000 customers have been without power since 8:43 a.m. and inland, more than BC Hydro is working on more than 400 outages in an area of the Ucluelet First Nation.

Hornby Island and Denman Island have more than 1,700 customers without power since around 7:45 a.m. and crews were estimated to arrive at 10:20 a.m.

The cause is under investigation, but B.C. Hydro says likely storm-related.

More than 6,000 customers in Port Alberni do not have power. In Parksville, there are 2,143 without power while Nanaimo has 2,189.

More than 1,500 BC Hydro customers had power knocked out near Port Alberni Thursday morning. Photo courtesy BC Hydro.

More than 1,200 BC Hydro customers saw power knocked out in Lake Cowichan.

More than 1,650 are without power in Courtenay and Qualicum Beach, south of Thomas Road. Also in Courtenay, 2,199 customers are without power in other areas. An additional 3,026 customers are without power in other areas of Qualicum Beach as well.

An outage if affecting 1,800 customers in Ladysmith and Thetis Island.

In Duncan and North Cowichan, there are more than 5,000 homes and businesses affected by power outages. Victoria currently has 915. There is an outage affecting 1,922 people in Central Saanich, Highlands, Langford, Saanich and View Royal, north of Echo Valley Place, west of Woodridge Place.

For the latest outages, visit the BC Hydro website here. 

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