As BC Hydro crews continue to work flat out to try and repair the damage caused by Thursday’s powerful Pacific storm, the utility is acknowledging that some customers will likely spend Christmas in the dark.
About 600,000 people had their power knocked out by the storm, and while crews have been working around the clock, as of Sunday evening more than 34,000 customers were still disconnected.
In pictures: Storm damage on Pender Island
About 250 of them were in the Lower Mainland, while about 31,000 were on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands.
Those smaller islands have been particularly hard hit, with scores of trees downed and power restoration made more difficult by the fact the Gulf Islands’ power system is linked.
While many islanders have been using generators to keep power going, Christine Tam, who was on Pender Island visiting family, said the gas station ran out of fuel on Saturday.
“Things are pretty bleak here. Power’s been out for four days, no hot water and no heat, the stores have been running on very limited schedules, so not a lot of access to food,” Tam.
“The ferries also have been intermittent because of mechanical issues as well as weather, so some people can’t even get off the island.”
Contractor Main Road South Island said it has brought in additional resources to try and help clear trees, however 80 per cent of roads on Salt Spring, and 50 per cent of roads on Mayne, Pender and Saturna Islands remain affected in some capacity.
BC Hydro says it has more than 800 personnel in the field, but that they continue to face serious challenges.
BC Hydro says hundreds of downed trees have made some roads completely impassable, meaning crews haven’t been able to do a full damage assessment in some of the hardest hit areas, including Duncan, Nanaimo, Lake Cowichan and the Gulf Islands.
“But Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands will take some more time, especially as we get to smaller and smaller outages.”
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Public Safey Minister Mike Farnworth issued a statement Sunday, praising BC Hydro crews for their efforts to address what the utility is calling one of the worst storms in two decades.
“I know that an extended power outage during the holiday season presents particular challenges for many,” said Farnworth.
Farnworth said that Emergency Operations Centres have been opened in affected communities, and asked residents to check in on their neighbours.
You can see the status of current power outages here.
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