B.C. Hydro restored service Thursday to customers across the Island who lost power during Wednesday’s wind-whipped start to spring.
Close to 30,000 customers around Vancouver Island were affected when the problems were at their peak. Most of the outages affected areas from Duncan south, said Hydro spokeswoman Karla Louwers.
Sooke and the West Shore were the hardest hit areas, with an estimated 13,000 outages, she said. About 1,900 customers in the region were without power through Thursday morning.
Fourteen Hydro crews worked in the Greater Victoria area Wednesday evening, putting in 16-hour shifts, Louwers said. Four fresh crews took over at midnight, then more came on at 8 a.m.
City of Victoria workers were also busy with downed trees, but Saanich emerged relatively unscathed from the stormy weather.
“We’ve been very lucky,” said Rae Roer, senior manager of Saanich parks. “The last few days have been a bit of a minor wind event for us. We’ve only had a half a dozen or so calls.”
There have been no reports of property damage, Roer said, and only a few branches and a small amount of debris had to be picked up. He said a limited number of trees came down on Saanich trails, but more damage may be noticed later.
“We know that as the wind and the rains cease, more folks will get out to the parks and trails, and we may get a few more reports.”
Sunny skies are forecast for the Victoria area today. Saturday is expected to bring a mix of sun and cloud, along with a 40 per cent chance of showers.
