Skip to main content

A powerful wind storm lashed coastal British Columbia on Monday, leaving more than 100,000 power customers without service, cancelling ferry sailings and keeping thousands of students home from school.

Environment Canada issued weather warnings for Vancouver Island, the Vancouver region and the Sunshine Coast, and those warnings proved accurate.

The weather agency recorded wind gusts of 100 kilometres an hour in some regions early Monday morning, topping out at more than 130 km/h on northern Vancouver Island.

By mid-morning, toppled trees and power lines had left about 110,000 customers without power, with nearly 90,000 of those on Vancouver Island. BC Hydro said some of its customers on smaller islands could be in the dark until Tuesday.

BC Ferries had to cancel sailings on most major routes to and from Vancouver Island because of the winds and rough seas.

At least two debris-covered highways were closed on Vancouver Island near Campbell River.

In Vancouver, the city's Stanley Park was shut down because of the high wind and falling tree debris.

And the power outages and ferry cancellations prompted school closings throughout Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast.

David Jones of Environment Canada said the storm was particularly strong compared with other March wind storms in B.C., with several characteristics that made it especially destructive.

"The most dangerous or damaging storms are low-pressure systems that are explosively deepening as they move on shore that cross the southern part of the B.C. coast," Mr. Jones said.

"So this one is explosively deepening, moving across Vancouver Island. Everywhere to the south of that low has been hit hard with very strong winds."

BC Hydro crews were working to restore power, though David Lebeter, the Crown corporation's vice president of operations, said some customers could spend the night in the dark.

"This is the largest storm of this season," Mr. Lebeter said in an interview.

"It is looking like it will be possible that some of the smaller remote islands off Vancouver Island will be without power until tomorrow, if for no other reason than ferries aren't sailing and we won't be able to get crews there."

Mr. Lebeter said BC Hydro was expected the wind storm and had crews on standby to deal with any outages. He said those crews were dispatched immediately when reports of damage came in, but they were forced to stand down briefly as conditions became too dangerous.

"This is the largest storm of this season."

Several school districts had announced closings on Monday, mostly on Vancouver Island.

The local school district in the Comox Valley area on Vancouver Island had closed all of its 23 schools, keeping nearly 10,000 students out of class. School District No. 72, in the Campbell River area, also closed all of its schools. The district has 22 schools and more than 5,400 students.

Other areas hit by school closings include Ucluelet on the west coast of Vancouver Island, the Saanich area north of Victoria and the Sunshine Coast.



Follow related authors and topics

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Interact with The Globe