As of 10:30 a.m. Monday, just three of the thousands of BC Hydro customers in the Cowichan Valley who had lost power in Sunday’s windstorm were still in the dark.
BC Hydro spokesman Ted Olynyk said at the peak of the storm, at about 6 p.m. on Sunday, approximately 7,000 customers in the Valley, one of the hardest hit areas, were without power.
In all, about 180,000 customers on the Island, Sunshine Coast and Lower Mainland were left in the dark at the height of the storm, but 97 per cent of them had their power back on by Monday morning.
“We had almost all power restored [in the Valley] by midnight,” Olynyk said.
“We’re not sure right now when we’ll have those remaining three up and running.”
The wind knocked down trees and branches causing them to come into contact with BC Hydro’s electrical equipment.
As a result, all available BC Hydro crews were busy Sunday evening and Monday morning repairing damaged power lines, power poles and transformers.
BC Hydro said in a press release that the Crown corporation understands that outages are disruptive and thanks its customers for their patience as crews work to repair the damage and restore power.
It also asks that members of the public follow physical distancing guidelines and provide crews with the space they need to complete their work safely.