Thousands without power following southern B.C. storm

Thousands of people are waking up to no power Friday morning as the first storm of the season hit the south coast Thursday night.

Currently, about 15,000 homes and businesses are without power and BC Hydro crews are working hard to restore electricity.

At the height of the storm, more than 40,000 homes had no power with the bulk being in Metro Vancouver and the Sunshine Coast.

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BC Hydro says the outages could last well into the morning.

There are also downed trees on some roads so drivers are warned to be careful and maybe allow for extra time for their commute.

Environment Canada had issued wind warnings for the region, and wind gusts peaked at about 90 kilometres an hour.

READ MORE: Businesses ‘powerless’ over planned BC Hydro outage

Due to the storm, BC Ferries cancelled a number of sailings Thursday night, including those between Tsawassen and Duke Point and Comox and Powell River.

There are no weather-related cancellations this morning.