BC Hydro says crews have restored power to about 95 per cent of the 290,000 homes and businesses affected by Monday's windstorm.
As of 6 a.m. Tuesday (Nov. 5), BC Hydro said 16,000 customers remain without power. About 11,000 of those are in the Lower Mainland, with the remaining 5,000 or so on Vancouver Island or the Gulf Islands.
BC Hydro said crews have been "working around-the-clock to restore power, replacing dozens of spans of power line as well as power poles and other electrical equipment."
The B.C. Crown corporation said it expects to have power restored today to the majority of the remaining customers, but there could be delays to "small pockets of customers in areas with significant damage."
At the height of the storm Monday, BC Hydro said about 290,000 customers were impacted. The hardest-hit areeas were Victoria, North Vancouver, Surrey and Sechelt.
BC Hydro said it had been "carefully planning" for the storm after a multi-year drought weakened vegetation across the province, making trees "more susceptible to wind." Those drought-damaged trees came down on electrical equipment during the windstorm.
Environment Canada's weather summary for Monday, with several locations recording wind gusts at or over 100 km/h.
Herbert Island, in B.C.'s central coast, recorded the strongest wind gusts at 108 km/h. It was followed by Victoria Gonzales Point at 107 km/h, Point Atkinson Lighthouse in West Vancouver at 106 km/h, Trial Island Lighthouse in Victoria at 102 km/h and Victoria Harbour at 100 km/h.
Most of Environment Canada's weather warnings were dropped late Monday afternoon, but strong winds and heavy rain remained in the evening forecast for all of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley through to Hope.
Winter storm warnings and bulletins were also in effect for several stretches of highway in southern B.C., where the weather office said strong winds and heavy snow could create "near-zero visibilities and treacherous driving conditions."
– With files from the Canadian Press
