It’s a snowy start to the week on North Vancouver Island.
School District 85 says all schools are staying closed for the day (Dec. 6), and North Island College’s Mixalakwila campus in Port Hardy is closed as well, with poor road conditions to blame.
Drive BC has issued a weather condition warning for Highway 19, with limited visibility and slushy, slippery sections.
Drivers are urged to use extra caution behind the wheel and slow down, keeping a car off the road if it doesn’t have snow tires.
Earlier this morning, Port Hardy Fire Rescue posted via its Facebook page, pleading with locals to stay home.
“The roads are in rough shape and the snow continues to fall,” it said. “There are multiple trees down in some locations. Highway crews are working hard, but it will understandably take some time to catch up. Stay at home, make some coffee and enjoy the snow from your couch if you can this morning.”
Meanwhile, thousands are without power locally, down in Campbell River and across Vancouver Island as a snowstorm hits the region.
On the North Island specifically, dozens of outages have popped up on BC Hydro’s outage map, most notably in Port McNeill, where over 1,600 customers are in the dark.
BC Hydro says crews have either been assigned, are on their way or are already on scene working to get the power restored.
For further updates, follow BC Hydro on Twitter, or check its website.
