It might be a long, dark night for many on the North Shore.
As a windstorm battered the Lower Mainland on Monday, power went out for thousands in North Vancouver and West Van.
According to the latest update on BC Hydro’s current outages, around 29,000 households were without power as of 2:30 p.m. – the largest disruption in recent memory.
Capilano University also closed its main North Vancouver campus in the afternoon due to an outage.
For many of the reported outages, BC Hydro has recorded the cause as simply “wind storm,” with no crew assigned yet and no estimates provided for a return to service.
Worst hit areas on the North Shore include communities in the neighbourhoods around Upper Lonsdale, Pemberton Heights, Edgemont Village and Delbrook; as well as Horseshoe Bay, Eagle Harbour, Uplands, West Bay, Sandy Cove and Westmount.
“Today’s strong wind and heavy rain knocked down trees and branches – many of them weakened by the multi-year drought – causing them to contact BC Hydro’s electrical equipment,” the utilities provider said in a statement.
“All available BC Hydro crews and contractor crews are working to restore power, and they are busy repairing damaged power lines, power poles and other equipment,” BC Hydro said.
On the North Shore, a helicopter is being used to assess the damage to power infrastructure.
“We are working to get everyone back online as soon as possible – but some customers will be without power overnight,” a BC Hydro spokesperson said.
“We’ve had crews working since the overnight hours when the first outages were reported and they will continue working around-the-clock until service has been restored to all customers,” the spokesperson said. “We want to thank everyone for their patience while we do this work.”
For CapU students, faculty teaching in-person classes will advise students of alternate plans.
"All other campuses are operating as usual," a spokesperson said by email. "Students and employees are being asked to watch CapU Safe App and social media for updates. Next update at 5 p.m."
With heavy rainfall and winds gusting up to 100 kilometres per hour, Environment Canada issued a wind warning and special weather statement, warning the public of a potent storm system hitting the south coast.
“Watch for possible washouts near rivers, creeks and culverts; Clear storm drains of leaves and debris; High winds may cause tree branches to break and lead to power outages,” the weather authority advised.
“As the system quickly exits the region, rain will begin to ease near midday; 30 to 40 mm of rain is possible for the North Shore, with 40 to 70 mm possible over the mountains,” Environment Canada said.
A total of 225,000 hydro customers were affected across the province on Monday. Service had been restored to around 76,000 of them by the early afternoon.
For updates on power outages, check BC Hydro’s website.
Have images or stories about the extreme weather to share? Email [email protected].
