A Comox Valley elementary school is closed Wednesday (Nov. 20) due to tree damage during the major storm that slammed Vancouver Island throughout the evening on Nov. 19 and into the following morning.
Comox Valley School District (SD71) confirmed Ecole Puntledge Park Elementary is closed due to localized damage from a tree during the storm. SD71 will have more information for families of those who attend the school later Wednesday.
About 90,000 Vancouver Island Hydro customers woke without power and ferries to the Lower Mainland cancelled across the board Wednesday morning.
More than 175,000 customers have been restored – or nearly two-thirds of the more than 272,000 originally impacted across the province, BC Hydro said in a 6:30 a.m. update for Nov. 20.
With strong winds expected to continue Wednesday in some areas, particularly on Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast, further outages are expected.
Citing safety concerns, BC Ferries cancelled the 7 and 9 a.m. ferries between Swartz Bay in North Saanich and Tsawwassen as the Environment and Climate Change Canada severe weather forecast for high winds continued across the Strait of Georgia.
The 6:15 and 8:25 sailings between Horseshoe Bay in North Vancouver and Departure Bay in Nanaimo are also cancelled as are the 5:15 and 7:45 a.m. ferries between Tsawwassen and Duke Point in Nanaimo.
A rapidly deepening low-pressure system arrived approximately 500 km west of Vancouver Island and was forecast to curl northwards Wednesday. Strong southeasterly winds are expected to continue with peak winds expected in the morning and easing later in the day.
Some areas can also expect heavy rain at times but winds remain the primary concern.
- With files from Christine Van Reeuwyk/Black Press Media
