Highways, parks closed, thousands without power as winds batter B.C.'s South Coast

UPDATE, Dec. 15 — B.C.'s Sea to Sky Highway reopens after landslide that knocked 1 home off foundation

ORIGINAL STORY:

Environment Canada has issued multiple weather warnings throughout B.C. for the weekend, including along the South Coast, where multiple stretches of highway were closed due to fallen trees and high winds. 

The province's driver information service, DriveBC, said the Sea to Sky Highway, or Highway 99, was closed in both directions due to a landslide at Brunswick Beach north of Lions Bay just after 10:30 a.m. PT on Saturday.

Squamish RCMP said in a statement that the highway isn't expected to reopen until midnight, and no detours were available.

"Emergency crews are actively trying to confirm property damage and if anyone was injured," Mounties said in a statement just before 12:45 p.m. PT. "At this time, no one has been reported as being injured."

B.C.'s transportation ministry is urging the public to avoid travelling to the area.

In a statement to CBC News, the ministry said there is no estimate for when the highway will reopen as crews are conducting structural assessments to ensure the site is safe.

Cleanup will begin once emergency responders and geotechnical teams complete their evaluations and declare the area secure, the statement added.

A spokesperson for the Lions Bay search-and-rescue team said it had deployed rescue teams and a helicopter to the area.

Highway 3B was closed near Rossland in B.C.'s Southern Interior due to a downed tree north of Highway 22. The latest updates on highway closures can be found on DriveBC.

Stanley Park, Lynn Canyon Park closed

DriveBC said Saturday morning that a fallen tree had blocked off the Stanley Park Causeway in Vancouver just before the Lions Gate Bridge, and motorists were told to expect delays. The closure was eventually resolved.

In a statement, the Vancouver Park Board said Stanley Park was closed due to high winds, citing a heightened risk of falling trees.

The District of North Vancouver said staff have received multiple reports of downed trees on both public and private property, and trails in Lynn Canyon Park were closed "out of an abundance of caution."

The district says arborists are responding to the calls. 

The City of North Vancouver has closed trails at several parks, including Heywood, Loutet, Mahon, Mosquito Creek, Moodyville and Eastview parks.

Some North Vancouver floating home residents forced out by high winds

Several residents of floating homes moored at Mosquito Creek Marina in North Vancouver were forced to evacuate their homes for several hours due to high winds.

Among them was Ginger Gosnell-Myers, who shared her experience in several videos posted to Facebook. 

In one video, she explains that she and some of her neighbours had to leave their homes as the docks began to break apart. One clip showed a boat shed that had detached from its dock and was floating freely in the water.

Gosnell-Myers later confirmed to CBC News that she had returned to the marina after staff made temporary repairs. Wooden supports and lines were added to help tether the structures to the docks. Although the docks have undergone significant repairs, she mentioned that she would be "sleeping with one eye open."

Ferry cancellations

B.C. Ferries pre-emptively cancelled numerous Saturday sailings due to the weather with a windstorm and coastal flooding warnings in place. 

The warnings include advisories about high winds, heavy rainfall and coastal flooding near the water, as well as snowfall further inland.

As of Friday evening, B.C. Ferries had cancelled nearly all Saturday morning sailings on all routes between Vancouver Island and the mainland, citing the severe weather warnings. Those included ferries between Vancouver and Victoria and Vancouver and Nanaimo.

Saturday morning sailings to and from many of the Southern Gulf Islands, Northern Gulf Islands, and on the Sunshine Coast were also either cancelled or at risk of cancellation.

The most up-to-date information is available on the B.C. Ferries service notices page.

Power outages

The high winds have also led to power outages throughout the Lower Mainland and Sunshine Coast. More than 240,000 B.C. Hydro customers lost power since the storm began, and the utility said that around 110,000 customers remained without power as of 5:15 p.m. PT.

The vast majority of those without power were in the Metro Vancouver suburbs, including Surrey, Burnaby, Langley and Port Coquitlam.

B.C. Hydro said in an update Saturday morning that some customers may be without power for much of the day in Vancouver Island's north.

"Crews have found fallen trees that have damaged multiple structures and brought down at least seven spans of line," the utility said in an update for the region. "Supplies, equipment and additional contractor crews have been dispatched."

The latest windstorm comes a little under a month after a "bomb cyclone" brought hurricane-level winds to parts of the South Coast and left up to 300,000 B.C. Hydro customers without power.

Snow

Environment Canada also warned of significant snowfall on inland mountain highways in both southern and northern B.C.

Specifically, it said to expect 15 to 20 centimetres of snow accumulating overnight Saturday on Highway 3 from Paulson Summit to Kootenay Pass.

Further north, up to 15 centimetres of snow was forecasted along Highway 97 between Williston and Pine Pass and the surrounding area.