Snowstorm knocks out power to more than 100,000 in B.C.'s southern Interior
Credit to Author: Scott Brown| Date: Thu, 02 Jan 2020 16:22:03 +0000
B.C. Hydro says a snowstorm cut power to tens of thousands of customers in the province’s southern Interior Tuesday.
The hardest hit areas included Clearwater, Quesnel and rural areas just outside of Kamloops, Vernon and Salmon Arm where heavy snow caused branches and trees to crash into power lines.
On Wednesday evening, B.C. Hydro said it had restored power to more than 100,000 affected customers, but there were still around 20,000 customers without power in the region.
“All B.C. Hydro crews and available contractor crews in the region have been called to work to repair damaged equipment, including power lines, power poles and transformers. However, poor road conditions in rural areas are causing some delays in response,” B.C. Hydro said in a release.
The utility company said heavy snowfall is expected to continue in the region, and crews are experiencing delays in reaching trouble areas due to the poor road conditions in some areas.
“We understand that outages are disruptive and ask customers to be patient as crews are working to access trouble spots as quickly as possible,” B.C. Hydro said.
BC Hydro is receiving reports of downed power lines. A downed power line is considered an emergency situation and members of the public should stay at least 10 metres back and call 911 immediately.
Updated estimates for power restoration are posted as they become available at bchydro.com/outages.
A snowfall warning is in effect for much of the southern Interior with some areas expecting as much as 30-40 cm of snow by Tuesday evening.
Happy New Year!
A strong winter storm hammered BC yesterday. A summary statement with interior snowfall & coastal rainfall totals can be found here: https://t.co/epsMnCjV4E
Thanks so much to everyone who sent in snowfall reports using #BCstorm. They are all appreciated. 👍 pic.twitter.com/uvjvhC9uhC
We definitely got the higher end of accumulations everywhere, with more on the way. Valleys may see some rain this evening and minimal snow for higher elevations through the night. Watch for equipment out in full force clearing this snow, to get ready for more. Check @DriveBC pic.twitter.com/d8hDmRup2I