Almost all customers who lost power over the weekend due to powerful windstorms that blew across B.C. have had their service restored, BC Hydro says.
The utility says almost 415,000 customers — which include residences and businesses — lost power over the weekend. As of Monday morning, it says more than 99 per cent of those outages had been repaired. According to the company’s website, around 6,000 customers were still without service as of 7:30 a.m.
Almost all customers in the Lower Mainland and Sunshine Coast have had their service restored, but that isn’t the case for the rest of the province.
“The majority of customers still without power are in the Central Interior, where extensive damage east and north of Prince George included approximately 200 spans of downed wire, numerous broken poles, and other damaged electrical equipment,” BC Hydro said.
“Additional crews, contractors and specialized equipment remain in the region, with resources continuing to be redeployed from other parts of the province as restoration work is completed.”
Some of the repairs involve replacing poles and crossarms and restringing multiple spans of wire, it says. For some customers north and east of Prince George, power may not be restored until late Tuesday.
Spokesperson Whitney Dean says crews have been working around the clock since Friday.
BC Hydro says it is preparing to deal with more stormy weather over the coming days.
“Storm rooms remain active, and crews, contractors, and equipment are being repositioned as restoration work is completed so they can support areas with the greatest remaining need while ensuring resources are ready to respond quickly to any new outages,” it said.
“Customers are encouraged to prepare for the possibility of additional outages by keeping their 72-hour emergency kits stocked and mobile devices charged.”
As always, it adds, anyone who sees a downed power line should assume it is energized and dangerous.
“Stay at least 10 metres back from any downed, damaged, or low-hanging wire and call 911 immediately to report it.”
