Thousands without power on Vancouver Island as strong winds continue Monday

Thousands of residents on Vancouver Island are waking up without power on Monday morning following a wind storm that hit late Sunday night.

According to BC Hydro’s Outages Map, major outages are affecting residents around Campbell River, Ladysmith, Nanaimo, as well as several of the Southern Gulf Islands including Mayne, Galiano, Saturna and Pender Islands.

BC Hydro says that the strong winds and heavy rain throughout the day have caused a number of outages, with several trees down across power lines.

Crews are currently working to get customers restored as quickly as possible, having worked through the night, however, the strong winds are continuing into Monday and resources are stretched thin.

Environment Canada has issued a weather alert stating that southeasterly winds will continue to hit parts of Vancouver Island including both coasts as well as the Greater Victoria area.

An intense low-pressure centre is expected to bring winds between 70 and 90 km/hr throughout the morning, easing by Monday afternoon.

Along the west coast in areas such as Tofino and Ucluelet, winds could reach as high as 100 km/hr.

BC Hydro has already indicated that Cortes Island will be without power until approximately 8 p.m. on Oct. 25 due to multiple spans of wire down and crews waiting on ferry services to begin.

“We will continue to provide individual restoration times as they become available, please continue to check back for updates. Thank you for your patience,” reads a statement from BC Hydro.

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