Sunday, February 10, 2019 ~ WEST SHORE & SOOKE
~ by West Shore Voice News
Power outages are down in number this afternoon February 10, with BC Hydro reporting 42 outage areas affecting 3,805 customers (as of 3:35 pm). With about 2.5 persons per billing customer, that’s about 9,510 people dealing with lack of electricity.
As of 4:51 pm yesterday February 9, there were 98 outages in the South Vancouver Island area, leaving 14,318 BC Hydro customers without power.
A number of outages continue into now Sunday evening west of Sooke in Otter Point and out to Shirley as far as Port Renfrew, affecting about 1,000 billing addresses. Metchosin and East Sooke see about 1,130 households without power as of 3:35 pm Sunday. Most of the other 42 outages this evening are on the Gulf Islands.
BC Hydro says: “Crews continue to make steady progress on restoration in the Fraser Valley, Lower Mainland, and Vancouver Island. Challenging conditions have made it difficult to access some areas which is impacting restoration times. Crews will be working around the clock until everyone is back, and individual restoration times will be provided as available.”
Usually the cause of outages is storm-damaged or snow-laded trees falling onto power lines, and sometimes due to slippery roads vehicles will crash into utility poles which can bring powerlines down onto the roadway. Strong winds in and of themselves can damage transmission equipment (poles, lines, transformers)..
BC Hydro, road crews (municipal crews for larger areas and Mainroad South Island for highways and Sooke roads), and emergency personnel continue their work under tough weather conditions, including a wind chill of about -16°C yesterday and today.
While snowfall subsided yesterday evening, on Sunday around 2 pm there was a new batch of snow falling in the west shore and Greater Victoria area, but with less wind. Environment Canada forecasts another 5 to 10 cm of snowfall through this evening (the same amount that fell on Friday February 8 and into Saturday morning).
Juan de Fuca Emergency Coordinator Jeri Grant reminds all residents to have a 7-day supply of emergency support equipment in winter, including stocking the pantry with enough food to not have to cook for several days.
- Power outages from windstorm February 8 & 9 in Greater Victoria & west shore
- Sooke residents reminded to clear snow from sidewalks in front of their properties
- Snowstorm on February 8 did not create a snowday for SD62 schools
- Previous Power Outage Updates: Day 8 aftermath | Day 7: Power outages continue on Boxing Day | Day 6: Power Outages continue on Christmas Day | Day 5: Power outages continue on Christmas Eve | Day 4: Power outages hit hardest on Vancouver Island
- West of Sooke: Juan de Fuca Emergency Program team busy with power outage aftermath
- Storm aftermath (Dec 22): Power outage impacting Vancouver Island for third day
- Storm aftermath (Dec 21): Power outage impacting island for second day
- Outage lists are regularly updated at www.bchydro.com