A stormy day in the Fraser Valley continues to challenge hydro and city crews.
A wind warning has been issued for the region (click here for more).
Power was knocked out to a large chunk of Abbotsford on either side McCallum Road just before 1 p.m., and while that outage – which affected more than 4,000 customers – has been restored to large portions of the city, areas elsewhere are now without power.
Power is out across most of Matsqui Prairie, and in much of Abbotsford south of Highway 1, ranging from Aldergrove all the way to Sumas Prairie. UFV is also without power and has closed for the day. Check ufv.ca for updates on the university’s weekend status.
Across the region, around 45,000 locations are without power. Emergency services are imploring the public not to call 9-1-1 except to report an emergency.
Abbotsford secondary and middle schools, along with Alexander elementary were also without power for stretches of Monday, according to Abbotsford School District.
According to the district: “the occurrence and duration of power outages can be more difficult to predict. For this reason, the decision to close a school due to a power outage is made on a case-by-case basis, taking all factors into careful consideration.
“In cases where building conditions prevent instruction but otherwise pose no safety concerns, the District works to keep the school open for students. Parents/guardians are asked to make alternate arrangements for their children where possible and return them to school once power is restored.”
“In cases where building conditions prevent instruction and also raise safety concerns, the Superintendent will request that the school be closed or authorize early dismissal, depending on the time of the day the outage occurs.”
Wind showing no sign of slowing in #Abbotsford. #bcstorm pic.twitter.com/mdJvHEjVZG
— Kelvin Gawley (@KelvinGawley) October 14, 2016
Power lines are down at various locations around town, including at a McCallum Road industrial property (below)
