Snow leaves thousands of Vancouver Island residents without power

Thousands of Vancouver Island residents and businesses were without power Tuesday after the latest snowstorm downed transmission lines across the region.

More than 16,000 BC Hydro customers lost electricity before 9 a.m., with the largest outages affecting customers in Greater Victoria, Parksville and the southern Gulf Islands.

By late afternoon, power had been restored to nearly half of those customers, with more than 8,300 residents and businesses in Saanich and the Gulf Islands still in the dark.

"Heavy snowfall has caused damage to our system and a number of outages across southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands," BC Hydro said in a regional alert Tuesday.

"Crews have made good progress overnight and work will continue throughout the day to make repairs and restore power. All available crews from the region are being dispatched to aid in restoration efforts."

The power provider urged residents to call 911 and keep back at least 10 metres from any downed or damaged power lines they encounter.

The hydro problems began early Tuesday morning as southwestern B.C. residents awoke to heavy snow covering Greater Victoria, eastern Vancouver Island and much of Greater Vancouver. 

BC Transit temporarily suspended all bus service in the Victoria regional system and across the Cowichan Valley due to the icy roads, but was aiming to get buses back on the streets as soon as conditions improved.

Several morning flights out of Victoria and Vancouver were cancelled or delayed. Travellers were advised to check with their airline or the latest flight information before heading to the airport.