Power restored to thousands after rainstorm hits B.C.'s South Coast
Around 24,000 homes were in the dark at storm's peak, B.C. Hydro says
Power has been restored to tens of thousands of homes in B.C. after an intense rainstorm knocked out electricity across the South Coast.
Roughly 24,000 customers were in the dark at the storm's peak, according to B.C. Hydro. Crews had cut that number in half by 6 a.m. PT, with a little more than 10,000 homes still without power as of 8 a.m.
"The overnight weather brought some pretty strong and significant winds to a number of areas," said Kyle Donaldson, spokesperson for B.C. Hydro.
"It's still too early at this point to know the scope of damage to our infrastructure, but that's something crews are going to be assessing as the day goes on."
The Lower Mainland and the northern portion of Vancouver Island were hardest hit. The cities of Langley, Surrey and Delta were also particularly affected.
Environment Canada described the storm as a strong, moisture-laden system over the Pacific forecast to bring up to 70 millimetres to the South Coast, with amounts possibly exceeding 90 millimetres for Howe Sound and the North Shore mountains.
Several weather advisories were lifted by Thursday morning, but rainfall warnings remain in place for Metro Vancouver and Howe Sound. Another 30 millimetres of rain are in the forecast.
The month of September has been rainier than usual this year, according to the weather agency. Preliminary statistics show Vancouver International Airport, for example, has already seen more than double its average rainfall for the month.
The rain Thursday is predicted to give way to sunshine and warmer temperatures going into Friday, which will continue through the weekend.
With files from Joel Ballard