UPDATE: Dec. 19/4:30 p.m.
More than 11,000 people remain without power on southern Vancouver Island as snow and freezing rain have impacted many residents.
BC Hydro says all available resources are out working to restore power as quickly as possible, but difficult conditions and extensive damage mean some customers may experience longer outage durations.
The hardest hit areas have been Victoria, Nanaimo and Duncan. Officials say more than 75,000 people around the province have been affected by these power outages, many of which were caused by heavy, wet snow on branches that come into contact with electrical equipment.
If you see a downed power line you are to stay at least 10 metres back and immediately call 911.
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Depending on where you live, it may not look like much snow is falling outside, but thousands of people on the south island are without power Tuesday morning.
BC Hydro says they’re dealing with multiple outages in Greater Victoria and the Cowichan Valley.
Approximately 1,500 people are in the dark this morning in East Sooke and another 3,000 are without power in Langford and the other West Shore communities. Many of the causes are still said to be under investigation, but a tree down across some wires is responsible for at least one of the outages.
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Heading north over the Malahat and up Vancouver Island there are more outages, according to BC Hydro.
Another 1,300 customers are affected in the Cowichan Bay area and a further 700 are without power east of Duncan towards Lake Cowichan.
There is also a power outage in Shawnigan Lake affecting another 744 homes. In total, BC Hydro says there are almost 10,000 customers without power at this time.
Many of these outages are still under investigation or said to be caused by the snow.
More to come…
