Saturday, February 9, 2019 ~ WEST SHORE & SOOKE
UPDATED at 5 pm February 9 (see below)
~ by West Shore Voice News
As an Environment Canada wind warning continues this morning for Greater Victoria (“strong outflow winds gusting to 90 km/h”), so do the power outages.
Usually the cause is 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).
In the Langford, Metchosin, Highlands, Colwood, and View Royal areas this morning (outages at 1:48 am, 7:37 am, 7:43 am, 8:12 am and another at 9:36 am), there are presently 9,762 BC Hydro customers without power.
Out in Metchosin east of Rocky Point about 236 BC Hydro customers have been without power since 1:44 am. As of about 1 pm, since 6:50 am this morning 1,536 BC Hydro customers were without power in the Metchosin/Sooke area east of West Coast Road.
On top of that, the more central Sooke area took a hit at 3:36 am this morning from the wind storm which affected 809 customers, then at 5:50 am another 350 customers, and 7:34 am affecting 537 more. Together with 957 customers without power since 9:11 pm and 9:45 pm last night in the area, that’s 2,653 without electricity in this blustery cold weather — at least one quarter of Sooke households.
UPDATE at 5 pm. As of 4:51 pm today February 9, there are 98 outages in the South Vancouver Island area, leaving 14,318 BC Hydro customers without power. WEST SHORE AREA – BC HYDRO CUSTOMERS WITHOUT POWER: 1,359 in Colwood; 1,880 in Highlands/Langford/Saanich/ViewRoyal; 72 in central Langford areas, 542 in the Langford/Metchosin/Sooke area, 769 in Langford east of Veterans Memorial Parkway into View Royal and 137 east of Treanor; 208 in Metchosin; 1,536 in Metchosin/Sooke east of Hwy 14; and 2,738 in the Sooke area.
BC HYDRO SAYS: “Crews have made steady progress on restoration throughout the day and early evening in the Fraser Valley, Lower Mainland, and Vancouver Island. Due to challenging conditions and extensive damage, some smaller outages will remain out overnight and into tomorrow. Crews will be working around the clock until everyone is back, and individual restoration times will be provided as available. Please continue to check for the latest updates. Thank you for your patience.”
BC Hydro, road crews (municipal crews for larger areas and Mainroad South Island for highways and Sooke roads), and emergency personnel continue their amazing work under these tough weather conditions, including a wind chill of about -16°C today. New snowfall since yesterday has, for the most part, subsided or ended.
- 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