Thousands still without power on Vancouver Island, Gulf Islands following windstorm

Thousands of BC Hydro customers woke up without power on Tuesday following strong winds and heavy rain on Vancouver Island and the southern Gulf Islands.

By 9:15 a.m. Tuesday, about 6,500 BC Hydro customers were without power in the region, with the most significant outages seen on Mayne Island and Saturna Island, where about 2,176 customers were without electricity.

On Vancouver Island, larger outages were centred around Zeballos and Tahsis in the North Island, where about 712 properties were without power – and around Jordan River and Shirley in the South Island, where more than 900 customers lost electricity between the two communities.

WIND WARNING

A wind warning remains active for Greater Victoria, where Environment Canada predicts gusts of up to 90 km/h.

The winds are expected to ease Tuesday afternoon.

Many of the power outages that occurred on Vancouver Island and the southern Gulf Islands this week were caused by fallen wires, with heavy winds knocking down power lines, or knocking down trees onto power lines.

In the Langford area, one woman was taken to hospital Monday night after a tree fell through a mobile home.

The incident happened around 9 p.m. in the Hidden Valley Mobile Home Park on Florence Lake Road. (CTV News)