Thousands woke up without power in Lower Mainland, Sunshine Coast Tuesday morning
Posted December 26, 2023 9:58 am.
Last Updated December 26, 2023 12:22 pm.
Several BC Hydro customers woke up in the dark Boxing Day morning, the utility says, a day after heavy winds hit the South Coast.
Almost 13,000 households across the Lower Mainland and the Sunshine Coast experienced outages on Christmas and Boxing Day, with around 7,000 in Surrey, Langley, and Maple Ridge.
Most outages were restored by noon Tuesday.
The vast majority of issues were caused by trees falling across wires, BC Hydro says.
Environment and Climate Change Canada advised Friday that a series of “very strong storms” was set to hit the province’s coast early this week and issued wind warnings going into the holiday long weekend. The agency issued wind warnings for B.C.’s north and central coast, Haida Gwaii and north Vancouver Island.
The weather service said last week that there is potential for even stronger winds to begin Christmas Day and last into the middle of this week, explaining that loose objects could be whipped up by wind gusts and cause power outages, injuries, or property damage.
BC Hydro advises customers to check outages, causes, and updates on its website.
An earlier version of this story stated that about 7,000 households had experienced outages in the Lower Mainland and on the Sunshine Coast, but didn’t include those households that had their power restored by that time.
With files from The Canadian Press.
