B.C. Hydro restoring power after wind storm leaves thousands in the dark
Some parts of the province's south coast were pummeled with up to 100 km/h winds Saturday
BC Hydro is restoring electricity to customers after strong wind gusts knocked out power to thousands of customers.
Environment Canada issued wind warnings Saturday for parts of British Columbia and many are still in effect on Sunday.
The agency warns that in Metro Vancouver, Victoria and the Southern Gulf Islands there are strong winds of 70 kilometres per hour, gusting up to 90.
There is also a potential for minor coastal flooding.
BC Hydro's power outages website had more than 13,000 customers in the Lower Mainland and Sunshine Coast without power on Saturday afternoon, but that number shrunk to fewer than 550 by Sunday at 9 a.m. PT.
The utility also lists more than 8,000 customers still without power on Vancouver Island, as of 9 a.m. PT.
Meanwhile, B.C. Ferries cancelled more sailings on Sunday, a day after having to scrap a handful of scheduled trips on the service's most popular route, between Tsawwassen in the Lower Mainland and Swartz Bay, north of Victoria.
The agency announced Sunday morning it had cancelled a number of additional sailings on that route throughout the day due to the "severe weather forecast for high winds" in the Strait of Georgia, and that an earlier sailing was delayed by the weather.
And B.C. Ferries said poor conditions had forced it to cancel two sailings between Haida Gwaii and Prince Rupert, B.C. on Monday.