Emergency crews continue to deal with the aftermath of last night’s storm, with fire departments being called out to various incidents this morning (Dec. 21), and BC Hydro reporting dozens of outages in the Parksville Qualicum Beach region.
BC Hydro numbers show several thousand customers are still without power after falling trees, debris and wind downed power lines.
For those still without power, there is a warming centre at QualicumBeach Civic Centre (747 Jones St., Qualicum Beach), hosted by Emergency Management Oceanside, according to a City of Parksville news release.
“Oceanside Emergency Support Services volunteers will provide support and information for those affected by the storm,” reads the release. “Also available at the Qualicum Beach Civic Centre for Parksville-Qualicum residents still without power is access to showers, the ability to charge mobile devices and a warm beverage.
“The warming centre will be open today (Dec. 21) until 6 p.m. and then Saturday, Dec. 22 and Sunday, Dec. 23 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Please check the City of Parksville and/or the Town of Qualicum Beach websites for additional dates should they be necessary.”
Those in need of more information on support can call Deb Tardiff, City of Parksville communications manager at 250-248-0846.
This morning, the intersections of Highway 19 and Northwest Bay Logging Road, as well as Highway 19 and Northwest Bay Road by the PetroCan were without power. Motorists are reminded to treat intersections without power as stop-sign intersections.
According to a tweet from DriveBC’s Vancouver Island Twitter account, Highway 4 between Tofino and Parksville opened shortly after midnight after downed trees and powerlines blocked motorists.
Fires also occurred as a result of the storm.
During the storm, a transformer on Centre Road in qualicum beach blew up and started a fire.
Shawn Bennett posted this video of a fire department putting out a fire was posted to our Facebook page:
Steve Stocker posted this video of the intense winds near his home:
As for many people, Dashwood Volunteer Fire Department is without power this morning, saying on their Facebook page that “It could be sometime before we see power back in some areas due to the amount of downed wires regionally.
“We want to remind you that there are still many spots around the area where there are still lines down. Please treat all downed lines as live and keep back at least 30 feet. Do not remove trees or debris off power lines until B.C. Hydro deems it safe. Lines can be back fed from local generators and can also be reenergized at anytime as B.C. Hydro crews bring areas back on-line.”
To check out power outage information, go to www.bchydro.com/power-outages/app/outage-list.html and click Vancouver Island, North.
RELATED: Tree nearly splits Parksville home in half during windstorm
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