Strong winds and rain pounded the Coast last week, culminating in a Saturday storm that left many residents without power for over 24 hours due to several trees falling across power lines.
On Saturday, Dec. 12 over 3,600 homes on the Coast were without power for periods ranging from one hour to a full day as crews worked to clear downed trees and repair power lines between Langdale and Egmont.
BC Hydro enlisted the help of local contractors to respond to the need on Saturday and local fire departments were called in to help secure areas where downed lines posed a danger, until crews could arrive.
Ted Olynyk, BC Hydro manager of community relations for Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast, said the particularly dry summer season, coupled with extreme weather events leading up to Saturday’s storm, weakened trees and caused several to come down that weren’t previously identified as danger trees.
“In B.C. we have more trees per kilometre of utility line than any place else in North America,” Olynyk said, noting BC Hydro engages in “ongoing pruning management” to help reduce the number of power outage events.
BC Ferries was forced to cancel dozens of sailings on Saturday due to high winds and unsafe sailing conditions caused by the storm.
A total of 72 sailings on 10 BC Ferries routes were cancelled on Dec. 12. No routes between Horseshoe Bay and Langdale were cancelled; however, six sailings between Horseshoe Bay and Departure Bay were cancelled that day, as well as six sailings between Little River and Powell River and four sailings between Powell River and Texada Island.
It was a deep low-pressure system that brought strong southeast winds of up to 70 km an hour to the Coast on Dec. 12 along with about 12 mm of rain.
The next major weather event is expected to hit the Coast on Dec. 22 when there’s a chance of snow in the forecast.
