Always be prepared because power outages are unpredictable, according to BC Hydro.
Spokesperson Tanya Fish explains that the teams have seen some unusual cases during 2017.
“800 customers in Yaletown plunged into darkness on a busy Friday evening after some party balloons got caught up in a power line and our crews had to respond to the area, remove those balloons and get power back for those customers so they could get back to their evening.”
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Fish says another example is one story from Northern B.C., in the community of Hixon.
“A beaver actually gnawed through a tree, and that tree ended up falling on a power line, which then caused an outage.”
She says the community was without power for a couple of hours while crews replaced the equipment.
“Thankfully the beaver was okay, it was a wooden pole, so it doesn’t conduct electricity like a metal one would.”
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Fish says the most memorable incident however was “Mother Nature’s Fury” in the summer, when the wildfires spread across the Central and Southern Interior.
She says the fires left 61,000 people without power.
Fish says always be prepared by having an emergency kit that includes a flashlight, extra batteries, first-aid kit, non-perishable foods and bottled water.
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