BC Hydro said power has been restored to about 99 per cent of the customers who lost it in a series of weekend windstorms, but some rural areas near Prince George could be without power until at least late Tuesday.
The storms began Friday and continued into Sunday, causing outages for nearly 415,000 customers across B.C., the utility said. As of Monday, about 6,000 customers were still without power. About 4,000 of them were in the Central Interior, most in Prince George.
The worst damage was east and north of Prince Georgee, BC Hydro said. About 200 spans of wire came down there, along with many broken poles and other equipment.
Crews are rebuilding damaged sections of the system, replacing poles and crossarms and restringing lines. BC Hydro said some repairs need specialized equipment and extra crews. Fallen trees and debris must be cleared before crews can reach some sites, and soft ground is limiting where heavy equipment can go.
Rural outages outside Prince George city limits are expected to last several days, with the earliest restoration expected late Tuesday evening, the utility said. More crews, contractors and equipment are being sent to the region as work wraps up in other parts of the province.
At the storm’s peak, around 1 a.m. Sunday, about 135,000 customers were without power at the same time. The hardest-hit areas included Prince George, Surrey, Duncan, Port Hardy and Courtenay.
“We were prepared for this storm and had crews and resources ready to respond immediately,” BC Hydro spokesperson Whitney Deane said Sunday.
On Vancouver Island, more than 2,900 customers were still without power late Sunday. BC Hydro said crews had restored the transmission line serving the North Island. Customers in the Cowichan Valley, Cortes Island, Zeballos, Bamfield, Nitinat and the Parksville area were expected to be without power overnight.
In Zeballos, some residents have been allowed to return home after a geotechnical assessment. The Strathcona Regional District said evacuation orders remain in place for several properties on Maquinna Avenue and Pandora Crescent because of flooding and landslide risks.
In Prince George, city officials said parks staff will clear downed trees in city parks once higher-priority cleanup is done.
More stormy weather is on the way. Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement calling for significant rain and strong winds on parts of the B.C. coast from Tuesday through Thursday.
BC Hydro said it is watching the forecast. Outage updates are posted at bchydro.com/outages.
-With files from Darin Bain, Wylie Henderson and Brendan Pawliw.
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