BC Hydro pole travels from Interior on rivers to Tsawwassen

Here’s something you don’t hear about every day: BC Hydro says one of its power poles that was ripped from its location by extreme weather in the Interior has managed to find itself near Tsawwassen.

The utility says the pole was set up along the Nicola River between Spences Bridge and Merritt and was washed away by the major flooding that hit parts of southern B.C. in November.

The pole, however, was just one of 87 BC Hydro lost, with the extreme weather causing significant damage to the provider’s systems.

BC Hydro says on Christmas Day, an employee was out for a walk near the 12th Avenue dyke in Tsawwassen when they spotted the pole washed up along some rocks.

Tale of the wandering power pole: after being washed away during the #BCStorm flooding in the Interior, a pole travelled down three rivers & journeyed hundreds of kilometers to #Tsawwassen. Info bulletin: https://t.co/DVZBp6jvT4 pic.twitter.com/8HweBNkqDQ

— BC Hydro (@bchydro) January 11, 2022

All in all, the pole travelled down three rivers before ending up at its final location.

“The pole would’ve made the epic journey down the Nicola River, past Spences Bridge, into the Thompson River, down the Fraser River and into the Pacific Ocean (Straight of Georgia) before floating around past Tsawwassen and Point Roberts and finally into Boundary Bay,” said BC Hydro spokesperson Kyle Donaldson. “The pole itself is broken. And for it to have travelled the way it did, speaks to the severity of this flooding event.”

The weather system that brought flooding to many parts of the Interior and Fraser Valley caused a lot of destruction to infrastructure. Many homes were lost in washouts and rising water levels.

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BC Hydro says more than 60 of its poles from the Highway 8 corridor remain unaccounted for. Some customers in and around Merritt — an area hard-hit by flooding — remain without power to this day.

Work to restore BC Hydro’s system in the Interior could last into the early summer.