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Thousands still without power on Vancouver Island after heavy snowfall

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More than 4,000 BC Hydro customers on Vancouver Island were without electricity Friday morning as recent snowfall continues to cause problems for island infrastructure.

More than 3,600 customers on the North Island and nearly 600 on the South Island remained in the dark by 10:30 a.m.

Campbell River bore the brunt of the weather-related outages while failures were also reported in Nanaimo, Tahsis and Zeballos.

BC Hydro said in a statement Friday there was "extensive damage to the power line serving customers in Tahsis and Zeballos" on Wednesday and "additional heavy snowfall overnight has limited our ability to safely access damaged areas."

"Based on current weather forecasts, work can continue over the next couple of days, and once complete we will start the process to reenergize the line," BC Hydro said. "There may be additional vegetation across the line that needs to be removed before power is fully restored."

More than 200 residents on Saturna Island were also without power Friday.

The provincial electricity provider says work crews have been assigned to restore power in the hardest-hit areas.

High winds in the Greater Victoria region Friday morning forced the cancellation of several ferries to and from Vancouver Island.

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