Power restored to thousands on South Coast after wind knocks out hydro lines
Special weather statement about gusting winds rescinded
Power has been restored to thousands of homes in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island after high winds knocked out BC Hydro service in many areas on Monday afternoon.
More than 3,600 customers lost power in Langley, Maple Ridge and Abbotsford, and another 4,200 were in the dark on Vancouver Island, according to BC Hydro. Power was up and running again by 5:45 a.m. PT on Tuesday.
Many outages were caused by damage to power lines.
"We have seen a number of trees and branches come down on our wires and in some cases we do have wires down," BC Hydro spokesperson Mora Scott told CBC.
Fallen trees and power lines also closed a section of Highway 7 between Mission and Maple Ridge on Monday afternoon.
REMINDER- <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BCHwy7?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BCHwy7</a> Trees down between 240th St & 272nd St. CLOSED in both directions. Detours in place. Expect delays. Use alternate routes. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MapleRidge?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MapleRidge</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MissionBC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MissionBC</a>
—@DriveBCAn Environment Canada special weather statement warning residents about gusting winds has also been rescinded.
With files from Meera Bains