233067
Central Okanagan  

Storm kills power

UPDATE 9:21 P.M.

Power has been restored to the majority of the Central Okanagan after lightning strikes took out power up and down the valley. 

Fortis BC says on twitter that they are still working on restoring power to 100 properties in Kelowna. 

As of 9 p.m. they are also reporting that over 150 Vernon customers are still without power in multiple outages. The estimated turn on time is between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. 

A further 1,600 customers in the Enderby/Spalluncheen area east of of Highway 97 are also affected. Turn on time for them is estimated at midnight. 

In Salmon Arm, nearly 3,000 customers remain in the dark with an estimated turn on time of 10 p.m.

Over 3,000 customers are without power in the Sicamous region with an estimated turn on time of midnight. 

Several hundred people remain without power in Chase, Merritt, Kamloops and Revelstoke with BC Hydro reporting power should come back on by midnight in all locations. 

Check out the video above to see some of those damaging lightning strikes. 


ORIGINAL

Wednesday's brief, but violent storm cut a swath of destruction through many parts of the Okanagan and beyond.

A tree hit a home in the Mission area and several other trees landed on roadways.

Trees and power lines were also reported down sending some areas into darkness for brief periods of time.

Downtown Kelowna lost power for about five minutes around 4 p.m. during the height of the storm.

Areas of Rutland and north also lost power.

FortisBC officials say much of that power had been restored shortly before 5 p.m.

Crews are working to restore power to those still affected as quickly as possible.

As of 5 p.m. in West Kelowna BC Hydro reports eight homes without power in the Bridgeview area while in the North Okanagan 104 homes in Spallumcheen north of Grizzly Hill Road and west of Knob Hill Road are without power.

In Vernon, 215 customers are without power in two separate outages.

A further 1,274 customers in the Enderby/Spalluncheen area east of of Highway 97 are also affected.

Power is expected to be restored later this evening.

In Salmon Arm, nearly 9,000 customers are without power while more than 2,700 customers are without power in the Chase area.



More Central Okanagan articles