BC Hydro Faces Rainstorm during Power Restoration, Thousands Still Without Power

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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BC Hydro is facing a hard time restoring power across the lower mainland of the province due to ongoing heavy rainfall. The company claims that its crews are working day and night to reconnect thousands of people who have been without electricity for two days but heavy rainfall is causing hindrance. Environment Canada issued a rainfall warning for Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, and Howe Sound on Monday. Several northern parts of the region are also anticipated to have up to 50 mm of rain, while amounts in Howe Sound may reach 80 mm.

In a tweet published by BC Hydro, the agency said that adverse weather has caused a “couple” of additional outages, totaling the number customers still without power up to up to almost 60,000. The agency says that its crews are now also tackling with the impact of windstorm including downed power lines, uprooted trees, and caused damage across the city on Saturday. The storm damage and power outages are centred in Burnaby, Surrey, Coquitlam, and Langley.

According to the agency, it has sought help from more than 440 outside workers to restore power including crews from Prince George, Smithers, Terrace, and Vancouver Island. The spokesperson of BC Hydro, Simi Heer, mentioned on Sunday afternoon that “we’re continuing to make great progress,” adding that “we’re getting thousands of customers’ (power) restored each hour. Crews are out there and they’re working as hard and quickly and safely as they can.” She pointed out that the damage caused by the windstorm is “varied and extensive” since “this is one of the worst storms we’ve seen for this region in years.”