VICTORIA -- Thousands of BC Hydro customers on Vancouver Island and nearby Gulf Islands were without power Monday, after a windstorm knocked out electricity on Sunday.
As of Monday morning, more than 5,000 island residents had their power impacted by nearly 50 separate power outages.
In the North Island, most of the power outages are located in Campbell River and nearby island communities, including Quadra Island and Cortes Island.
Widespread power outages were also reported on Gabriola Island, near Nanaimo, where hundreds of residents across the island have lost electricity.
Approximately 2,049 people were without power in the North Island across 38 different outages Monday morning.
In the South Island, more than 3,600 BC Hydro customers were without power.
The hardest hit area is in Colwood, where more than 3,500 people lost electricity. BC Hydro said that crews were en route to the area, and the cause of the outage was still under investigation.
On Sunday, heavy winds knocked out power to tens of thousands of British Columbians and cancelled ferries in the afternoon and evening.
BC Hydro says the winds caused approximately 180,000 people to lose power across the province's coast on Sunday. At its peak, more than 21,000 people on Vancouver Island were without electricity.
As of Monday morning, more than 174,000 people had their power restored.
"Crews made great progress overnight restoring power from the windstorm on Sunday," said the company in an update Monday morning.
"Work will continue and we expect to have remaining customers without power on Vancouver island and the Gulf Islands restored today."
