The predicted bomb cyclone weather system hit the Cowichan Valley hard Tuesday night, Nov. 19, with high winds and rain leaving thousands without power.
On Nov. 19 B.C. Hydro's outage map showed criss-crossing outages that left the Town of Ladysmith and the surrounding area without power. Also out were at least 2,200 people along the coast in the Saltair area down into Chemainus.
A swathe of Maple Bay, areas around Quamichan and Somenos lakes and along Herd Road were also out, leaving thousands to weather the storm without electricity.
Sahtlam, Paldi, Deerholme, Youbou and Cowichan Lake Road also showed large outage areas.
Most of the City of Duncan was still powered up as of 9 p.m., but more than a dozen small outages in the surrounding areas punctuated the map.
Further south, Cowichan Station, Cobble Hill, Shawnigan Lake, Mill Bay and Malahat were all largely without power with outages affecting thousands.
Highway 18 was closed at Hillcrest, and the Pacific Marine Circle Route was also closed.
"While the ongoing wind is making it difficult to begin restoration work in some areas safely and some customers are expected to be out overnight, crews will continue working around-the-clock to repair damaged power lines, poles and other electrical equipment until all customers are restored," BC Hydro stated in a news release.
On Wednesday morning thousands remained without power, including the Town of Ladysmith, Saltair down to Chemainus, part of Herd Road, Maple Bay and Genoa Bay. Parts of Lake Cowichan, Youbou, Sahtlam, Paldi, Deerholme, Cowichan Station, Cobble Hill and Mill Bay also remained without power. All of Shawnigan Lake was without electricity.
BC Hydro said in a news release that crews made significant progress overnight in restoring power, but about 90,000 customers on Vancouver Island remained without service. Hydro said the hardest hit areas were Nanaimo, Victoria, Duncan and Ladysmith.
"Drought-damaged trees and branches came down on electrical equipment during the windstorm causing significant damage," the release said. "BC Hydro had all available BC Hydro crews and contractor crews working overnight to restore power, and that work will continue today. Crews are busy replacing power lines, poles and other equipment to get as many customers restored as quickly as possible, but have encountered access challenges as a result of the heavy debris on some roads as well as areas where the wind was too strong overnight to complete the work safely.
"Crews are receiving reports of downed power lines. A downed power line is an emergency. Call 911 and stay at least 10 metres back. BC Hydro crews will work with first responders to make the area safe."
All schools were open in the Cowichan Valley School District on Wednesday morning, but bus service was sporadic, as road closures due to downed trees cut off some routes.
By Thursday morning B.C. Hydro reported that they had restored power to more than 90 per cent of customers, however thousands in the Cowichan Valley remained without power, among the 28,000 on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands still waiting for restoration of service.
While many of the remaining outages were small, one in Shawnigan Lake still encompassed an area of more than 2,000 customers, while another large outage encompassing an area outside of Ladysmith as well as Thetis and Penelakut islands tallied more than 1,000 customers still without power. Outages in the Cowichan Lake, Cobble Hill and Shawnigan areas were affecting hundreds more, while spotty outages affecting five to a few dozen people were scattered throughout the Valley.
"Crews will continue to work throughout the day and BC Hydro expects to have the majority of the remaining customers restored today — with the possible exception of some customers in areas with significant damage," said a morning press release.
On Friday morning power was back on to most people, but there were still homes awaiting service restoration, including several dozen in the Lake Cowichan and Ladysmith areas, with small outages affecting between five and 10 customers sprinkled across the rest of the Valley.
Meanwhile, the region was under a special weather statement as another system was set to roll in Friday and into Saturday.
