Emergency dispatchers brace for first big storm of the season on Vancouver Island
An expected 'bomb cyclone' has emergency responders bracing for an increase in activity as the storm moves onto Vancouver Island Thursday and into the weekend.
Staff levels at the Fire Dispatch Centre in Campbell River were increased in anticipation of higher call volumes.
Dispatch centre manager Stephanie Bremer says storm warnings often come this time of year, but this event was expected to be different.
"We have had spurts of additional call volume," she said. "We do anticipate as the storm moves down the island we will see more calls coming in."
Bremer says dispatchers are able to track where the storm is travelling as the calls shift between the 69 different departments they oversee on the island. That's in addition to 11 locations in the Peace River region.
"Quite frequently we'll start to see calls come in on the North Island and they'll start to move down from Sayward to Campbell River, to the Comox Valley through the Nanaimo Regional District," she said.
The bulk of those calls will be of a predictable nature.
"The majority of the calls that come through to us during storm events is downed hydro lines, motor vehicle accidents, people who might be trapped in their homes because a tree has fallen and brought some hydro lines down with it," Bremer said.
The dispatch centre manager says they will often remind the public to stay at least a school-bus' length distance away from downed lines and to always assume the lines are still active.
The storm was already having a noticeable impact on the northern tip of the island, where four ferry routes were cancelled. BC Ferries spokesperson Deborah Marshall said those routes included the run between Port McNeill and Sointula and Alert Bay; the Port Hardy to Prince Rupert run; Prince Rupert to Haida Gwaii and also a minor route operating within Haida Gwaii.
Other routes were being monitored Thursday.
"We are closely monitoring the weather situation, particularly in the Northern Gulf Islands, but at the present time it looks like we might be okay," Marshall said.
At the Cape Scott lighthouse station, keeper Harvey Humchitt Jr. says the winds have already been increasing.
"The sea conditions are starting to pick up a bit, there's a lot more whitecaps, we're starting to see some blowing spray now," he said.
Humchitt says this is the start of the hurricane force season, but what they're preparing for is even more intense.
"This one here is a really strong one," Humchitt said. "Usually when we've had hurricane force winds at the beginning, they're about 60 to 70 knots. This is the first winds we've had this year that have gone all of the way up to 90 knots, so that's quite a strength."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Calgary police shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers dealt with a distraught individual. The incident lasted almost 20 hours.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.