Power restored to more than 100,000 customers after strong winds blast B.C.'s South Coast

UPDATE — Oct. 14, 2020: BC Hydro says crews have restored power to more than 100,000 customers as of Wednesday morning after a windstorm knocked out electricity across the South Coast. Several thousand people in the Lower Mainland, on the Sunshine Coast and on Vancouver Island remain without power.

Weather warnings, including snowfall advisories for mountain highway passes, have been lifted.

EARLIER STORY:

Power has been restored to tens of thousands of BC Hydro customers but approximately 50,000 were still dealing with outages Tuesday night after a significant windstorm hit the Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley, Vancouver Island, Gulf Islands and the Sunshine Coast.

BC Hydro says many households won't see power restored until Wednesday. Half of the affected customers are on the Lower Mainland, with the remaining 25,000 on Vancouver Island.

A total of around 176,000 customers were affected by the strong winds, with the hardest hit areas being Qualicum, Courtenay, Abbotsford and Chilliwack.

At the peak of the outages, around 85,000 customers were without power at the same time.

BC Hydro says branches and trees breaking have caused extensive damage to its electrical infrastructure and crews are working around the clock to repair damaged power lines, poles and transformers to restore the power.

It warns members of the public to stay away from downed power lines and report them to 911 immediately.

Trees smash through windshields

The winds also made for dangerous driving conditions across the region. Three people were trapped inside a large motor home when a tree smashed through its windshield on Highway 1 between Agassiz and Hope. 

The occupants were eventually freed by the fire department without significant injuries.

The RCMP says there were similar incidents in Popkum, which caused traffic delays as the debris was cleared, but luckily no serious injuries.

"If you don't have to be out there it's a good idea not to be," said Sgt. Mike Sargent. "Debris could come from all angles, so pay particular attention to your surroundings."

Ferry sailings cancelled

BC Ferries reported sailing delays and some cancellations Tuesday morning due to strong winds as the weather in southern areas of the province triggered a long list of warnings from Environment Canada.

The first ferry sailing of the day between Tsawwassen and Duke Point was nearly an hour behind schedule because of the wind, the ship loading just after 6 a.m. when it should have left the mainland at 5:15 a.m. The return trip scheduled to leave Duke Point at 7:45 a.m. was later cancelled entirely.

There have been cancellations on smaller ferry crossings, including Port McNeill-Alert Bay-Sointula, Hornby Island-Denman Island East, Quadra Island-Campbell River, and Quadra Island-Cortes Island.

"We're going to closely monitor the situation. If we do have to cancel for safety reasons then we will do so," said BC Ferries spokesperson Deborah Marshall.

All updates on cancellations can be found on BC Ferries website.

Environment Canada said "widespread gusty winds" are expected over Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and Howe Sound through the day on Tuesday. Areas of Metro Vancouver near the Strait of Georgia and Bowen Island will see winds between 50 km/h and 70 km/h, potentially reaching a "very strong" 90 km/h by late morning.

Howe Sound and the Fraser Valley are expecting similar winds. Warnings are also in effect for all of Vancouver Island, as gusts have reached up to 100 km/h in some exposed coastal areas.

With winds that strong, power outages and downed trees are possible.

The agency said the wind should taper off in the evening.

Highway snow

Elsewhere, more warnings and special weather statements are in effect for a number of mountain highway passes as snow continues.

The Okanagan Connector, Highway 3 from Paulson Summit to Kootenay Pass and the Trans-Canada Highway from Eagle Pass to Rogers Pass are under snowfall warnings with heavy snow in the forecast. Fifteen centimetres could fall in all three areas before the flurries turn to rain in the afternoon. 

The Coquihalla Highway and the Allison Pass portion of Highway 3 are each expecting 5-10 centimetres.

Snow began falling on the mountain passes on Sunday night.