Power restored to thousands on North Shore, around Metro Vancouver

Thousands of people were without power early Tuesday, as a strong wind and rainstorm blew over the Metro Vancouver region.

The outages mainly impacted BC Hydro customers on the North Shore, as the utility said 15,000 customers were affected due to damage to a transmission line.

Power went out at about 1:30 a.m. when three power poles were broken on two separate transmission circuits due to falling trees and branches. (BC Hydro)

Kyle Donaldson with BC Hydro says the outage happened at around 1:30 a.m. and the damage was extensive.

“When our crews got out to the scene, they found about three broken poles that now need to be repaired. This is likely weather-related with the overnight winds,” Donaldson explained.

The outages on the North Shore were resolved by the early afternoon hours.

Power was also cut to some customers in Vancouver, as well as a handful in Burnaby, New Westminster, Surrey, and many on the Sunshine Coast.

By 8:00 a.m., more than 22,000 customers were impacted between the Lower Mainland and Sunshine Coast.

At the peak of the storm, more than 34,000 customers were without power in the province.

Reminder during #BCStorm and high winds: a fallen power line is an emergency – even if it's not buzzing or sparking. Knowing this could save your life. Stay back at least 10 metres, keep others away, and call 9-1-1: https://t.co/d2YpWwlTIS pic.twitter.com/8SpFfvMr5l

— BC Hydro (@bchydro) November 9, 2021

BC Hydro says its meteorologists have been keeping a close eye on this weather system over the past few days.

“They’ve been tracking this weather system, which is bringing a lot of rain and some strong winds to parts of the South Coast and also Vancouver Island. So we have restoration crews in 55 offices right across B.C. and they’re ready to go at a moment’s notice,” Donaldson explained, adding crews have been working through the night to resolve issues.

The outages pushed back the start of classes at several schools in the North Vancouver and West Vancouver school districts to 11:00 a.m.

String of weather events

Tuesday morning’s disruptions come amid a string of weather events on the Lower Mainland in recent days. Over the weekend, a tornado was confirmed to have touched down near Vancouver’s UBC campus, ripping up trees in that area.

University Blvd is now open to traffic and all impacted routes are back to normal — to and from UBC.

The wind storm taking place at that time was also being blamed for outages and some destruction, as trees fell on lines and even vehicles.

There’s also been a months-long stretch of special statements and warnings on the Lower Mainland, with the region experiencing weather events like heat domes and a bomb cyclone. Meteorologist Michael Kuss has said these events happening all within the same year and within just a few months of each other signal a troubling trend.

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“If you go all the way back to the heat dome, it is an unprecedented pattern within the last couple of 100 years that we’ve been keeping accurate records. That’s a long time in the scope of our weather picture,” he explained.

Currently, a special weather statement remains in place for the Metro Vancouver area. Environment Canada says there are threats of strong winds with gusts of up to 70 kilometres per hour expected in parts.

“An intense frontal system will generate strong southeast winds over Metro Vancouver this morning,” the agency says on its website, adding winds will shift direction later in the day but continue to be strong.