Thousands of people on North Vancouver Island were without power Saturday after a transmission circuit failure knocked out service to Port Hardy, Port Alice and surrounding communities.
The issue, which left more than 7,000 B.C. Hydro customers north of Woss without power, was reported shortly after 2:30 a.m.
An update posted Saturday evening said crews conducting a helicopter flyover found multiple transmission structures had been damaged by fallen trees.
"The extensive damage, remote location, and logistics of getting materials to the site makes repairs more challenging," the B.C. Hydro update said.
The utility said it expected to have power restored to all customers by midnight.
Meanwhile, in Zeballos, a distribution line downed by a windstorm on Thursday was still waiting on repair materials early Saturday.
Crews surveyed the distribution line that provides power to Zeballos and found extensive damage requiring the restringing of nine spans of transmission wire, B.C. Hydro said in an update posted Friday afternoon.
Materials are being barged and flown to the remote and heavily forested area, and power was expected to be restored on Monday afternoon, it said. However, the B.C. Hydro website said it was restored about 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
B.C. Hydro meteorologists have been warning of an elevated risk of power outages during fall windstorms, particularly for Vancouver Island, which has been under more sustained dry conditions than other parts of the province.
Thursday’s windstorm cut power to customers in Campbell River, Courtenay, and Denman, Cortes and Hornby islands.
