Woman dies after tree falls onto tent
North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP say a woman in her late 20s was inside a tent when she was killed Thursday by a tree brought down by wind.
Police were called to a wooded area near Boys Road and the Trans-Canada Highway about 11:25 a.m. on Thursday. The woman was visiting people who were camping at the site, police said.
Five people were in the tent at the time. Two men were injured and taken to hospital. One was airlifted and the other was transported by ground ambulance.
“It’s an accidental death so it will be the Coroners Service who’s investigating,” said Island District RCMP Cpl. Tammy Douglas.
The B.C. Coroners Service has confirmed that the woman was from Duncan.
For many, it might be days before lights go back on
Thousands of Island residents were still without power Friday — and it might be days before it comes back on.
At the peak of Thursday’s windstorm, just over 150,000 B.C. Hydro customers were without power on Vancouver Island — about one-third of the total. That had dropped to about 62,000 by 8 p.m. Friday.
By Saturday morning, fewer than 60,000 were still without power.
On #VancouverIsland less than 60,000 customers remain without power. Damage is unprecedented with hundreds of trees on power lines in #DuncanBC & roads littered by trees on #GulfIslands. 70 spans of wire is down in Bamfield requiring crews to climb 80 ft to carry out repairs. pic.twitter.com/W0IkInjjSH
— BC Hydro (@bchydro) December 22, 2018
Transmission lines that feed Tofino, Ucluelet and Lake Cowichan were out of service but repairs were expected to be done Friday, said B.C. Hydro spokesman Ted Olynyk.
Damage to electrical systems was extensive and crews are being brought in from other parts of the province to help with repairs. Much of the damage was caused by large trees falling onto power lines.
“The damage that we’re seeing across the Island is just remarkable,” Olynk said.
Some people might not get their power back for a few days, he said. “In some areas, it’s access — trees across roads that are slowing us down. It’s a real problem up and down the Island for us. We are asking for our customers’ patience.”
Acknowledging the storm, Prime Minister Trudeau tweeted: “We’re thinking of everyone in the Fraser Valley, Lower Mainland & Vancouver Island dealing with storm damage today. Please remember to be safe and avoid downed power lines. An enormous thanks to the hardworking crews out there trying to get electricity restored ASAP.”
Entire towns were left without power, including Nanoose Bay, Ladysmith, Chemainus, Lake Cowichan, Ucluelet and Tofino.
Ucluelet Mayor Mayco Noel said the community, home to about 1,800, is looking forward to power being back. “It’s been a very long time since we’ve gone — 14, 15 years — with this extent of a power loss.”
The power of the storm was unusual, Noel said. “The wind kind of came in weird, it just kind of ripped up town,” he said. “A lot of trees down, a lot of fences down, no big structure losses or anything like that.”
Wind gusts reached 144 kilometres per hour at the Lennard Island Lighthouse near Tofino, 102 on Saturna Island and at the Trial Island Lighthouse, and 94 in Esquimalt.
In Nanaimo, a plea to conserve after outage at water plant
Nanaimo residents are being asked to stop bathing and doing laundry in an effort to conserve water after the city’s water-treatment plant was damaged in Thursday’s windstorm.
The plant lost power during the storm, and a backup generator failed Friday morning. Power was restored by 7:30 p.m. Friday and the plant was running, but not at full capacity as crews worked to repair a resulting malfunction in the control system.
On Saturday, the city said water was safe to use in limited quantities.
#Nanaimo drinking water update: water safe to use in limited quantities #ycd https://t.co/DDNvpMh2YM
— City of Nanaimo (@cityofnanaimo) December 22, 2018
Bill Sims, Nanaimo’s director of engineering and public works, told CHEK News that this was the first time they had seen such a domino effect, with problems “radiating through the plant.”
A notice from the municipality said the city’s water is safe to drink and asked residents and businesses to continue to conserve water. That will allow water levels to be maintained in case they are needed for fighting fires, Sims said.
He thanked residents for their efforts so far, noting consumption was about half the daily average.
City pools and arenas are closed until further notice. The pools are unable to meet health and safety regulations, as people can’t shower before entering the pool as required. The arenas are unable to clean the ice.
More than 150,000 B.C. Hydro customers on Vancouver Island lost power due to the storm. Nanaimo and Duncan were hit particularly hard.
Other areas were also dealing with water advisories.
Some Salt Spring residents had water service cut off after downed trees damaged infrastructure.
When water service is restored, residents in the Highland-Fernwood Water Service Area should boil their drinking water vigorously for one minute. Officials say the boil-water advisory will be removed when Island Health is satisfied that the drinking water does not pose a health concern.
A boil-water advisory was also issued for a portion of the Beddis Water Service Area.
For updates, go to the Capital Regional District website at crd.bc.ca.
Motorists facing navigation challenges, but ferries running again
Toppled trees and downed power lines blocked roads and slowed traffic on Friday, as Island drivers dealt with the aftermath of Thursday’s storm.
Traffic signals were out on many highways, causing significant delays for drivers, who had to treat intersections like four-way stops.
In some places vehicles were lined up several cars deep, with up to 50 cars waiting to go through.
On Mayne and Saturna islands, every road had downed trees and power lines, while the majority of roads were blocked on Galiano and Salt Spring.
All Island highways had reopened Friday, but the Transportation Ministry said there was “significant tree fall” between Parksville and Port Alberni, particularly around Cathedral Grove, with single-lane, alternating traffic in some areas.
There was also single-lane, alternating traffic at a washout between the Tofino-Ucluelet Junction and Taylor River, near the Kennedy Hill rest area.
Crews expected to finish repairs late Friday.
B.C. Hydro and road maintenance crews are working to remove trees and repair lines.
B.C. Ferries were back on schedule Friday after having to cancel 130 sailings on 14 routes. The ferry dock at Penelakut Island was severely damaged in the storm, so B.C. Ferries has water taxis connecting the island to Chemainus.
“We haven’t seen that kind of storm in seven to eight years,” said B.C. Ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall.
There has been some traffic backlog at the Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen terminals, she said.
Damage around Greater Victoria, Island
At the Maple Bay Marina, near Duncan, the aftermath of the storm is a “disaster,” said Steve Lamont. Owners of two houseboats that came loose were having them retrieved Friday.
“We have lots of damage,” he said. “A lot of docks are all broken up and everything else.”
On Mount Newton Cross Road, people were upset when an “iconic” tree across the street from Saanich Peninsula Hospital went down in the storm, said farmer Ryan Vantreight.
He said he is asking people to keep out of the field where the tree stood because there are still daffodils planted in the area.
“I’ve got signs posted out there, one on social media, explaining please don’t go out there to try and grab a piece of the tree for your own memorabilia.”
