UPDATE: Feb. 28, 3:35 p.m.
By Tuesday afternoon, most of the power outages affecting North Shore residents earlier in the day had been fixed, according to BC Hydro.
But a separate outage affecting more than 800 customers in the Capilano Highlands area persisted later through the day, after starting around 10 a.m.
BC Hydro expected that outage – caused by a downed tree on power lines – to be solved by around 5 p.m.
ORIGINAL: Feb. 28, 9:35 a.m.
As heavy, wet snow falls in heaps across the region, affected power lines are knocking out power for thousands of BC Hydro customers.
As of early Tuesday morning, two power outages were affecting around 2,308 customers in West Vancouver, according to the provincial utilities provider. And more recently, a separate issue took out power for 947 homes along Capilano Road in North Vancouver.
At 5:51 a.m., a downed power line west of Aspen Drive shut the lights off for 1,114 customers in Eagle Harbour and the surrounding area, according to BC Hydro. As of 9:15 a.m., a crew was said to be “on their way.”
At 5:56 a.m., a downed power line North of the Trans Canada Highway took out power for 1,194 customers in Horseshoe Bay, Sunset Beach and surrounding areas. BC Hydro said there was a “crew assigned” to that outage.
And at 8:37 a.m., “object on our wires” caused power to go out for 947 customers North of the Upper Levels Highway along Capilano Road, south of Handsworth Road, BC Hydro said. Crews were “on site” at that outage, expecting power to return at 10:00 a.m.
BC Hydro also noted a small outage affecting five customers on the 500 block of Hadden Drive in West Vancouver. The cause was “under investigation” as of 9:11 a.m.
“Wire down” outages are usually due to trees making contact with power lines, said BC Hydro spokesperson Kyle Donaldson.
"Snow adds extra weight to trees which can sometimes cause them to make contact with power lines. Most power outages are caused by trees and adverse weather, including wind, rain, snow and ice," he said.
If you come across a downed line, assume it's live. Stay back at least 10 metres and call 911.
"We have crews and contractors working today and really appreciate everyone’s patience as we work to restore service in impacted communities," Donaldson said.
