The blast of stormy and icy winter weather didn’t just cause problems in Metro Vancouver on Friday. The Interior and Vancouver Island saw their own share of havoc.
As of Friday evening, most of coastal B.C. and the Southern Interior remained under a slew of snowfall, winter storm and freezing rain warnings.
BC Ferries cancelled several morning sailings due to weather. It was later forced to cancel a number of sailings on major routes due to crew shortages.
“We haven’t had issues with staffing right now, it is with employees trying to get to terminals,” BC Ferries spokesperson Deborah Marshall said.
“It all has to to with weather conditions, with road conditions, people trying to access the terminals. It’s the same for our employees as it is for anyone else out there.”
Affected sailings Friday evening include:
- 8:00 pm Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay (Victoria)
- 10:00 pm Swartz Bay (Victoria) to Tsawwassen
- 9:20 pm Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay (Nanaimo)
Marshall said anyone using the ferry service should check the BC Ferries website before heading out to the terminal.
The Coquihalla Highway was closed for hours overnight due to multiple crashes along the route, and remained under a travel advisory late Friday.
Travellers were being warned of heavy snow and freezing rain, and rapidly deteriorating conditions.
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“It is a tough job and we’ve got a good crew, but the snow keeps falling,” said Liz McMann, a highway patrol worker with contractor Yellowhead Road Bridge.
“We’re just asking everybody to stay home if you can in these kinds of conditions … So just travelling on these holidays, if you don’t have to travel, don’t.”
The Ministry of Transportation also issued a traffic advisory for Highway 3 between Hope and Princeton, and between Princeton and Hedley urging people to avoid non-essential travel through to Monday.
“If you choose to travel, use caution, expect difficult road conditions and be prepared for closures on short notice,” the ministry warned.
Drivers were being warned of moderate to high avalanche risk and closures both on Highway 3 and Highway 1 in the Fraser Canyon area.
On Vancouver Island, BC Transit cancelled all service in Victoria starting at midnight on Friday, only resuming partial service on some routes in the early afternoon.
All service in the Cowichan Valley and Salt Spring Island, however, remained cancelled through Friday evening.
Highway 4, which connects eastern Vancouver Island with the west coast, was also closed between the Taylor River Rest Area and the Tofino-Ucluelet junction for a period of time after multiple trees fell on power lines in the area.
However this route, too, remained under a travel advisory Friday evening, with severe conditions expected and drivers urged to avoid it if at all possible.
BC Hydro said it had crews on standby throughout the province, in anticipation of downed power lines.
Spokesperson Mora Scott said that unlike in a windstorm where power is knocked out to large areas all at once, the potential for an ice storm could cause multiple outages over several days as icy branches break off trees.
“We know the frozen rain has a potential to cause significant damage to our system. What that does, is basically adds weight to the snow that’s already on trees and basically coats the trees in a layer of ice which can cause them to fall and come in contact with our power lines and equipment,” Scott said.
“We’re basically all hands on deck, we have a few hundred people on standby. This includes BC Hydro crews, contractor crews, our vegetation management crews and other support staff.”
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