Wind warning ends, BC Hydro restoring power to thousands

By

WEST VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A wind warning issued by Environment Canada yesterday has ended, but not before a lot of damage was done.

“An intense Pacific frontal system is moving slowly eastward across the South Coast this morning and will pass through the Lower Mainland near noon today. Ahead of the front, strong southeast winds will reach speeds up to 80 km/h, especially over exposed coastal areas,” says the agency in a statement.

Winds have eased to between 30 km/h and 50 km/h.

At the height of it Sunday morning, roughly 69,000 customers were without power across the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island. “We have had trees and branches been knocked down onto our equipment as a result of the high winds. This has resulted in downed power lines and damaged to our power poles. This work does take time for our crews to repair. We have all hands on deck working to get power back as quickly as possible,” explains the utility’s Tanya Fish.

Click here to check on BC Hydro outages.

The wind also caused problems on the water. BC Ferries reported numerous cancellations because of unstable sails. “The routes that are affected are the Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay, Horseshoe Bay-Departure Bay, as well as Comox to Powell River. The first round trip on all those routes are cancelled,” said Deb Marshall with BC Ferries.

She adds, thankfully, ferry traffic on Sunday mornings are typically light.

As for the roads, you’re being warned to look out for falling tree branches and to slow down and take extra precautions.

Listen live for traffic updates every 10 minutes on the ones. You can also follow us on Twitter @NEWS1130Traffic or subscribe to breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today