BC Hydro crews are struggling to restore power after tens of thousands of people on Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast were plunged into the dark as strong winds brought down lines and caused widespread outages.
However, BC Hydro says the strong winds make it difficult to safely start restoration work in some areas and customers may be without power overnight.
Powerful winds caused by a cyclone bomb sitting off the west coast of knocked out power from Victoria north through the Cowichan Valley, the Southern Gulf Islands, Nanaimo, the Comox Valley, to Black Creek, as well as the Port Hardy and Port McNeill areas.
As of 10 pm Tuesday evening, nearly four-thousand customers without power in the Gibsons and Sechelt area on the Sunshine Coast, and several hundred remained in the dark in the Powell River area.
The West Coast of the Island from Sooke to Port Renfrew, and the Ucluelet and Tofino areas were hard hit as well.
The province warned against travel Tuesday evening as downed power lines, debris and fallen trees caused several highway closures on the island.
The routes affected are highway 28 from Campbell River to Gold River, highway 4 from the Highway 4A junction to Port Alberni and from Port Alberni to Tofino and Ucluelet junction, highway 14 west of Sooke, highway 18 at Hillcrest, and the Pacific Marine Circle Route
There may be additional closures as the storm moves through.
When it’s safe to do so, maintenance contractors will begin clearing debris on the highways.
Environment Canada says the strong southeasterly winds will continue overnight into Wednesday morning, easing late in the day on Wednesday.
