Power outages were widespread across the Nanaimo region as a sudden fall of heavy wet snow played havoc with power lines Tuesday morning, Dec. 19.
As of 10 a.m. more than a dozen outages were reported by B.C. Hydro from north Nanaimo to Cedar and Yellow Point that left more than 9,700 customers without electricity, including some schools, for snow-related causes including branches and trees falling across power lines.
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“It’s typical south coast, heavy, wet snow and it’s causing us a lot of grief,” said Ted Olynyk, B.C. Hydro spokesman. “What’s causing the outages is trees coming down on the lines.”
Olynyk said B.C. Hydro has a full contingent of hydro and contractor crews out repairing damage, but how long it will take to restore power to all customers depends on the weather.
“At the end of the day it all depends on what Mother Nature has in store for us, how much snow we get, how heavy it is and how wet it is,” Olynyk said.
For more information about where power outages are happening, their causes and estimated times power will be restored, visit http://bit.ly/2CDKfX6.
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