Highways were closed, ferry sailings were cancelled and the lights went out for tens of thousands of residents as strong winds from a storm dubbed a “bomb cyclone” hit Vancouver Island on Tuesday.
Highway 4 was closed east of Port Alberni due to unsafe conditions after emergency responders were called to multiple motor vehicle crashes related to high winds and downed trees, Port Alberni RCMP said Tuesday evening.
Earlier, the fire department said it responded to a tree that had fallen on a semi-truck between Port Alberni and the highway summit and another incident at the summit.
A four-kilometre section of Highway 14 near Jordan River was closed in both directions due to a downed tree and Highway 28 was closed between Gold River and Campbell River due to the wind, with no detour available, DriveBC said.
Environment Canada issued a wind warning for much of the Island saying gusts of up to 100 kilometres per hour are expected as a low-pressure system arrived about 400 kilometres southwest of the Island Tuesday afternoon.
The wind was starting to pick up Tuesday afternoon, with a peak of about 94 km/h at Race Rocks, said Brian Proctor, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Those winds were expected to strengthen overnight and continue until Wednesday afternoon, he said.
Snow was falling on Mount Washington and elsewhere at high elevations and the Malahat could see a mix of rain and snow, Proctor said.
The storm is unusual because it will likely last longer than most storms that pass through in the fall, making significant power outages more likely, Proctor said. “We’re probably lucky that it’s tracking as far offshore as it is. If it was closer to the Island, we’d see those big winds over a much larger portion of area, so we’d probably have much more significant damage.”
B.C. Hydro brought crews over from the mainland to respond to outages in anticipation of cancelled ferries because the Island is expected to be the hardest hit part of the province, said Ted Olynyk, community relations manager for Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast.
At 11:30 p.m. power was out for nearly 130,000 customers on Vancouver Island in about 290 locations. About 39,000 customers were without power on the Lower Mainland and Sunshine Coast.
Many of the outages were caused by downed trees or broken power poles.
In a statement Tuesday evening, B.C. Hydro said a strong windstorm and heavy rain were causing extensive outages. "We have all available crews to ensure a strong response this evening, and crews will work throughout the night to restore as many customers as possible. Ongoing wind has made it difficult to begin restoration work in some areas safely. Customers should prepare to be without power overnight."
Olynyk said it’s fortunate that many weaker branches have already fallen in previous storms, so the impact of this week’s storm may be mitigated.
People should stay 10 metres back from any downed wire and call 911, as it could be live, Olynyk said.
The storm is a reminder to have an emergency kit prepared that can get you through 72 hours without power, he said.
On the North Island, crews were plowing snow Tuesday at high elevations of Highway 19 and Highway 28, said Chris Cowley, general manager of Mainroad North Island, which maintains the roads north of Parksville.
“Other than that, the lower elevations, it’s sort of a bit of the calm before the storm,” Cowley said.
Additional crews were bracing Tuesday night for the coming winds, he said.
While the forecasted winds aren’t extreme on their own, the wind warning covers the company’s entire service area — the top two-thirds of the Island — for a long period, which is uncommon, Cowley said. “That’s the difficult one about this. There’s potential to be stretched a little bit thin.”
Crews will likely be kept busy removing downed trees and they could have to close roads if it becomes unsafe for them to work in the high winds, Cowley said.
North Island residents should be prepared to hunker down, he said. “If they don’t have to travel tomorrow morning, I would say stay home if you can.”
Cowley recommends checking drivebc.ca before hitting the road.
The winds led to cancelled ferries in the evening between the Island and mainland. Travel may also be affected Wednesday, B.C. Ferries said. For updates on sailings and cancellations, B.C. Ferries recommends checking its X account.
The Transportation Ministry said these highway sections were closed because of downed trees and debris. Additional closings are likely.
* Highway 4 from Highway 4A (Errington) to Port Alberni, and from Port Alberni to Tofino/Ucluelet junction
* Highway 14 west of Sooke
* Highway 18 at Hillcrest
* Highway 28 from Gold River to Campbell River
* Pacific Marine Circle Route
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