With the prospect of stormy weather on election day, Elections B.C. says it’s ready to go back to paper-based procedures if power is affected at voting sites.
“We have been working with B.C. Hydro to ensure that they’re aware of all the voting-place locations, so that if there are any weather-related power outages they can work quickly to address those,” said Elections B.C. spokesperson Andrew Watson.
He said voting places have back-up power sources, but in the event of a power outage, election officials can return to paper-based procedures if they can’t use their laptops to look up voters on the list, for example.
Any weather-related disruptions will be communicated to the public as quickly as possible through the media, the Elections B.C. website and social channels, Watson said.
Environment Canada is warning of an atmospheric-river system through the weekend on B.C.’s south coast and Vancouver Island.
A weather alert posted for inland Vancouver Island called for heavy rain starting early Friday, from 100 millimetres in coastal areas to 200 millimetres or more in the mountains.
Affected communities could include Tofino, Ucluelet, Port Alberni, Port Renfrew, Lake Cowichan and Gold River, with a chance of pooling water on roads and swollen rivers and creeks.
A 16.3-kilometre stretch of Highway 4 near Kennedy Lake was closed in both directions on Friday evening due to debris. DriveBC was warning of water pooling on the entire stretch between Pacific Rim National Park on the Island’s west coast and Qualicum Beach on the east.
Wind or rain warnings are also in effect for much of eastern Vancouver Island on the weekend. Winds on the north Island were set to gust up to 110 kilometres an hour on Friday.
B.C. Ferries issued an alert Friday saying that the expected high winds could affect multiple northern-Island routes.
Included among the day’s cancellations were some of the sailings from Campbell River, Quadra Island and Port McNeill. Several sailings between Departure Bay in Nanaimo and Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver were also cancelled.
Environment Canada meteorologist Armel Castellan said the combination of heavy rain and high winds could make conditions especially tough, with forestry-road washouts “almost a guarantee” on the coast between Tofino and Port Renfrew.
Communities from Victoria to Nanaimo, meanwhile, will “probably have a wet, wet couple of days.”
Drivers should be aware of the risks of hydroplaning, localized flooding and other dangers, Castellan said.
“Those kinds of things are totally possible,” he said. “It’s a time to be ultra-cautious around water movement.”
The District of Sooke has opened its self-serve sandbag station for the season in the parking lot at Ed Macgregor Park.
Sand and sandbags will be available seven days a week to help residents fend off potential flooding. Residents must bring their own shovels to fill the bags.
