Nearly 4,000 people woke without power Tuesday (Nov. 5) morning across the south Island after a windstorm swept the region Monday.
They were among the 16,000 BC Hydro users affected across the province, according to the company.
With 104,000 customers down by Monday evening, primarily on the Island, Lower Mainland and Southern Gulf Islands, crews worked through the night to restore power. The work included replacing dozens of spans of power line as well power poles and other electrical equipment, BC Hydro said.
“Crews will continue to work throughout the day and BC Hydro expects to have the majority of the remaining customers restored today – with the possible exception of small pockets of customers in areas with significant damage,” a Tuesday morning news release stated.
Drought-damaged trees and branches came down on electrical equipment during the windstorm causing significant damage. More than 250 BC Hydro and contractor crew members have been working since early this morning to restore power, replacing power lines, poles and other electrical equipment. While progress has been steady, they have encountered challenges, such as roads blocked with vegetation and poor weather conditions that prevented helicopter patrol in some areas.
About 253,000 customers were restored – or about 87 per cent of the more than 290,000 customers impacted – by late Monday.
The outages are attributed to drought-damaged trees and branches downed by the Nov. 4 windstorm.
Predicted to have winds of 70 km/h with gusts to 90 km/h by Environment and Climate Change Canada, the storm recorded some record-breaking gusts in Greater Victoria.
The strong Pacific frontal system generated strong winds and a short period of heavy rain to coastal areas.
Environment and Climate Change Canada recorded a wind gust of 107 km/h at Gonzales Point in Victoria, as well as 102 km/h at Trial Island.
Victoria Harbour saw gusts to 100 km/h and Esquimalt Harbour 87 km/h.
