Thousands still in the dark

Photo: Contributed - Lee Olinger

Update -- July 25

Just over 200 people are still without power following Wednesday's thunderstorm, according to BC Hydro. These residents are mostly in small pockets throughout the Okanagan/Kootenay and Thompson/Shuswap regions.

Original story -- July 24

A number of people in central BC are still without power following Wednesday's severe thunderstorm that saw rain and hail pelt communities throughout the Okanagan Valley.

BC Hydro is reporting that nearly 10,000 hydro customers both in the Okanagan/Kootenay and Thompson/Shuswap regions, are still in the dark.

One of the hardest hit regions is Sicamous, where 1,341 homes are still without power and the estimated time of recovery is not until 4 p.m. this afternoon.

There are more than a dozen other pockets of power outages throughout the Shuswap, including Chase, Sorrento, Salmon Arm, Enderby, and Mabel Lake.

A few people were also without power in Kamloops, Cranbrook, Coldstream and Vernon on Thursday morning.

In Kelowna, power went out downtown around 4 p.m. Wednesday night, but that only lasted for a few minutes.

Last night, BC Hydro had reported most would be back on by 5 a.m. this morning, yet thousands still wait.