BC Hydro repair crews continue working to restore power to thousands of customers in the Cowichan Valley.
Ted Olynyk of BC Hydro says at the peak of the storm Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, power was cut to about 10-thousand customers in the Cowichan region.
He says Shawnigan Lake, Cobble Hill, Mill Bay, Maple Bay and Duncan were among the hardest hit areas.
As of 5 pm on Wednesday, he says up to 6000 customers were still without power.
Olynyk says repair crews from other areas on Vancouver Island were brought in to help speed repairs.
He says there are typically three BC Hydro crews in the Cowichan Valley, but up to 12 Hydro and contractor crews will be involved in restoring service.
Olynyk says the widespread outages were the result of an early snowfall on trees that still had a lot of leaves, making their branches heavier.
He also says trees have been through a summer of drought that has weakened them, so it is easier for branches to break, or for the entire tree to come down on power lines.
He says if people encounter downed power lines they should stay well back and call 9-1-1 because there is the danger of electrocution if they get too close.
