About 225,000 B.C. Hydro customers on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, the Lower Mainland and the Sunshine Coast lost power after a "potent storm system" swept over B.C.'s south coast on Monday.
B.C. Hydro said that number could continue to grow until the winds subside.
Power had been restored to more than 76,000 customers as of 2:30 p.m., but about 149,000 were still without power, including 34,000 on Vancouver Island.
The hardest hit areas on Monday afternoon were Surrey, Victoria, North Vancouver, West Vancouver and Sechelt, the utility said.
All available crews and contractor crews are responding, repairing damaged power lines, poles and other equipment., B.C. Hydro said in a statement.
A multi-year drought has weakened vegetation, making trees and branches more likely to fall in a windstorm, it said.
B.C. Transit detours
Some routes in the Victoria Regional Transit System are on detour due to fallen branches and downed power lines, says B.C. Transit.
Affected routes are listed below but B.C. Transit says the situation is changing quickly. Customers can check the B.C. Transit alerts page for the most up-to-date information.
Route 2
- Dallas Road closed to all traffic. Detour via Dallas, L-Simcoe, L-Oswego.
Route 5
- Dallas Road closed to all traffic. Detour via Dallas, L-Simcoe, L-Oswego.
Route 39
-
To UVic, via McKenzie, R-McGill, around Ring Rd to UVic Exchange.
Route 43
- No access to Royal Roads via Belmont. Detouring via College, R-Zealous, R-Egerton, L-Belmont.
Route 64
- Trips servicing Langford Exchange using Kangaroo and Sooke in both directions.
- Tree down on wires on Gillespie. Service between Sooke/Townsend and 17 Mile House only.
Highway conditions
A five-kilometre stretch of Highway 14 was closed in both directions between Kangaroo and Humpback roads due to a tree across the road. It reopened about noon.
DriveBC is warning of water pooling on several Vancouver Island highways on Monday, but no major incidents or closures had been reported as of 7:55 a.m.
Mount Washington Road has winter driving conditions with limited visibility and heavy snowfall.
Weather warnings
Greater Victoria, the Southern Gulf Islands and the western, eastern and inland areas of Vancouver Island are under Environment Canada weather alerts.
“A relatively short but intense episode of rain is expected to begin tonight. Peak rainfall intensities are expected after midnight and early Monday morning,” the weather agency said.
Early indications call for 70 to 100 millimetres of rain over the mountainous terrain of west Vancouver Island, with lesser amounts of rainfall expected elsewhere across the region, said Environment Canada.
Wind warnings have also been issued for much of the Island, including Greater Victoria and northern Vancouver Island.
Strong south to southeast winds will also develop overnight before becoming very strong west to northwest winds on Monday.
Some inland west-to-east oriented valleys will also likely see strong westerly winds, according to the forecast issued on Sunday morning.
Environment Canada said some of the hazards associated with the storm are potential washouts near rivers, creeks and culverts.
Ferry cancellations
B.C. Ferries was warning of possible sailing cancellations on Monday due to forecast high winds over the North Strait of Georgia and northern Vancouver Island, and service notices were posted for several routes.
Sailings were set to resume on all affected routes by 10 a.m. See B.C. Ferries' service notices for up-to-date information.
Possible flooding
The North Island and the west side of the Island are under a high-stream advisory. That means rivers are rising or are expected to rise rapidly, though no major flooding is expected. However, minor flooding in low-lying areas is possible.
Visit the B.C. River Forecast Centre for up-to-date conditions.
