The latest storm to hit the province’s south coast brought high winds and high tides and created havoc for much of our province’s south coast including Vancouver Island.
While the storm wasn’t as fierce as the bomb cyclone that came close to Vancouver Island in November it still packed a punch.
It left tens of thousands without power and despite the winds easing, there are still many without power Saturday night.
Cancelled sailings at BC Ferries Saturday morning delayed travel plans for those travelling on major and many minor routes including Departure Bay.
“We were supposed to be going to the mainland for a Christmas party and everything is paid, hotels booked and our ferry just got cancelled,” said Jackie Alves, a BC Ferries customer.
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“We’re trying to get over for the hockey game tonight against Boston and we’ve been here since about 10 O’clock this morning,” said Dave Taylor of Courtenay, another BC Ferries customer.
With winds gusting up to 100 kilometres an hour, the storm led to more than 40 power outages on Vancouver Island and the Gulf islands.
“We’ve had a pretty significant event hit us on the south coast again,” said Ted Olynyk of BC Hydro. “We’ve got about 20,000 customers out on Southern Vancouver Island, Sunshine Coast, a lot of them on the Gulf islands.”
BC Hydro says it’s still assessing the damage and it’s not yet clear if everyone will get their power on before nightfall. Roughly 6,300 customers remained without power on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands as of 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
“When we get the calls we’re out there responding as quick as we can. Crews were put on notice yesterday to expect work over the weekend, and we’re going to have this event so we’re certainly prepared for it,” said Olynyk.
The wind and waves did not scare off three women from making their daily dip in Departure Bay.
“We’re pretty crazy. We do it everyday so it’s hard to skip out,” said Julie Boyer. “It was fun but pretty cold though.”
By the afternoon, there was some relief for BC Ferries customers who were feeling some angst.
“If this one’s cancelled then we’re kind of out of luck,” said Taylor as he headed for a 3:20 p.m. sailing Saturday afternoon.
BC Ferries resumed sailings across the majority of its operations after 3 p.m. Saturday.
To view the status of upcoming sailings at BC Ferries, visit Current Conditions.
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