Editor:
The winds of April 3 were interesting! I couldn’t help thinking most of the day, “When will our power go off?” But then I realized most of the trees that would be falling this season had perhaps already done so.
For years we enjoyed windy seasons when power outages were the exception. I would see trucks throughout the year trimming branches etc., but not recently. I regret we’ve all experienced budget cuts, but for me it gave me the singular opportunity to become intimately familiar with the outages section of the BC Hydro website, on my phone of course.
The site is well-constructed and easy to follow, in seconds I could see that 2,000 of my favourite neighbours were also without power, and I checked back frequently for updates and while the candles burned and I drank cold coffee, I was always delighted at the status reports of “under investigation,” “crew assigned,” “estimated arrival” and then of course voila!
I was intrigued by the link to “report an outage,” and so one day shortly after I saw a tall but slender tree resting on a group of hydro wires, I used the link, connected with a very nice and patient gentleman who took my call and listened to my story of an outage waiting to happen.
May I suggest that Hydro create a proper link for “outages waiting to happen?” Or perhaps as fellow coasters we can assist them by scouting out these suspect trees that are past their “best by date” and reporting them?
The Coast is a special place to live, and being here year round, gives us the pleasures of nature seen nowhere else. I’m certain we can all lend a hand? And hopefully contribute to a no-power-outage season soon.
Deborah Moore, Halfmoon Bay
