Windstorm overnight knocked out power across Kelowna, West Kelowna

Photo: FortisBC

UPDATE 12:50 p.m.

FortisBC reports power has now been restored to Joe Rich, following Wednesday night's wind storm.

A small outage within the City of Kelowna impacting 231 homes around Cerise Drive is expected to be restored by 3 p.m.

Widespread outages at Big White, meanwhile, are expected to be restored any time now. 

UPDATE 9:00 a.m.

Morning rush hour drivers are noticing traffic light issues Thursday morning following Wednesday nights wind and rain storm.

The lights at Harvey Ave and Ethel St. have been impacted and the highway has a steady green light as of 8:30 a.m. while drivers on Ethel are forced to sit and wait at the light for a light that doesn't change.

Westcana Electric Inc. takes care of the management of traffic signals and lights at that intersection and they are aware of the situation and are working to fix the issue.

ORIGINAL 6:50 a.m.

A wind and rain storm wreaked havoc in the Central Okanagan overnight.

Around 11 p.m., reports came in of a roof cave-in on Salloum Road in Glenrosa, followed by a tree down on a power line at Glenrosa and Carre roads.

Across Okanagan Lake in Kelowna, a tree also reportedly fell on a home on Ellis Street about 11:30 p.m.. No serious damage was reported, and there were no injuries.

Then, about 11:45 p.m., sparks were reported from a possibly blown transformer on Swamp Road, near DeHart Road, and power was out to the area and towards the Mission.

BC Hydro reported two outages on the Westside, the first just after 11 p.m. on Boucherie Road, where a tree fell across power lines, cutting power to 124 homes, and the second just before 11:30 p.m., west of Preston Road, where a tree also came down across wires.

That incident affected 18 customers. It was repaired by about 2:30 a.m.

In Kelowna, FortisBC tweeted about midnight that it is experiencing an outage due to the windstorm and that crews working on restoring power.

Its website reports outages restored in the Lakeshore and McCulloch areas, as well as Black Mountain.

There are current outages still being worked on in the Bankhead area of Kelowna, affecting more than 1,000 homes, and in Black Mountain, where a second outage is affecting a handful of homes.

Meanwhile, a larger outage is affecting 485 homes in the Joe Rich area, where a tree also came down on power lines.

Power is also out in the Big White area to more than 1,000 homes.