VICTORIA -- More than 100,000 British Columbians who lost power during Tuesday’s windstorm have had their electricity restored, according to BC Hydro, though thousands are still in the dark on Vancouver Island as of Wednesday morning.
The energy provider says that roughly 130,000 BC Hydro customers lost power on Vancouver Island and B.C.’s south coast during Tuesday’s windstorm.
Since then, more than 121,000 people have their electricity back. However, nearly 9,000 Vancouver Island residents are still without power, largely in the North Island communities of Campbell River, Port Hardy and Port McNeill.
BC Hydro says the outages in the North Island were largely caused by a transmission circuit failure in the region.
The energy provider says that crews worked overnight to repair the damaged transmission line and that crews will continue to work in the area Wednesday.
On Wednesday morning, BC Hydro began helicopter patrols to survey damage caused by the windstorm in northern Vancouver Island.
“BC Hydro appreciates its customers’ patience as repair work continues and will provide updated estimates for power restoration as they become available at bchydro.com/outages,” said the company Wednesday.
Tuesday’s storm caused power outages, flooding, cancelled BC Ferries sailings and damaged property on Vancouver Island.
Two people who were sleeping in their mobile home also suffered serious injuries after a tree crashed through their bedroom in Port Alberni.
