Heavy snowfall leaves thousands without power on BC coast

Photo: BC Hydro

BC Hydro crews are working to repair damage and restore power after heavy snowfall put 50,000 customers in the dark across coastal B.C. Tuesday.

Crews worked throughout the night and have restored power to 30,000 customers, BC Hydro says.

As of 6:30 a.m., 15,800 remain without power on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, and 4,700 are out in the Lower Mainland.

"Crews have experienced some delays in reaching trouble areas due to the poor road conditions and ferry cancellations. However, all available BC Hydro crews and contractor crews will continue to work around-the-clock until all power has been restored," the utility provider says.

"Snow adds weight to trees and branches and can result in them breaking and coming into contact with electrical equipment. Crews are busy replacing power lines, power poles and other electrical equipment."

Check the status of outages on Hydro's outage map.