BC Hydro urges preparedness, warning storms are becoming more severe
Posted December 1, 2023 3:42 pm.
There is a heavy rain warning issue for the south coast over the next week and BC Hydro is urging people to be better prepared for potential outages.
BC Hydro spokesperson Susie Rieder says storms are becoming more “severe and frequent” because of climate change, adding most British Columbians are not adequately prepared.
“Our report found that three in five British Columbians think that storms in the past few years have been the worst storms they’ve ever experienced and they’re not wrong because our data shows the same thing,” Rieder told CityNews.
She says BC Hydro’s data shows 25 per cent of British Columbians don’t have an emergency kit or even a plan.
Rieder explains the potential for outages have been increasing because of multiple factors, including drought and weakened trees being knocked over into power lines. “Since we have more trees than most places” this is very common, she said.
She says 350,000 BC Hydro customers have already been impacted by two big storms this past October and early November.
John Richardson, a University of British Columbia ecosystem sciences professor, echoes the impact climate change has had on the severity of storms.
“The prediction is not necessarily that we would have more rain on average throughout the year but we would have more rain in very punctuated pulses in the autumn and the winter,” he explained.
Rieder notes as this becomes the new normal, it is important for everyone to have an emergency kit with supplies that can last 72 hours. These kits should include a flashlight, water, non-perishables, and an external phone charger.
She says BC Hydro prepares for storm season year-round with its meteorologists, and works with its vegetation management program which surveys dead or weakened tress that could pose a risk during storms.
BC Hydro customers can check for outages online or by calling 1-800-BC-HYDRO. People are reminded to call 911 if they see power lines down.
-With files from James Paracy, Kate Walker and Charlie Carey
