190,000 without power, ferries cancelled amid West Coast storm

A major storm has left 190,000 people on the West Coast without power, as of noon Monday, according to officials at BC Hydro.

Tens of thousands of BC Hydro customers were without power Monday morning as a large storm crossed over the coast.

The storm also forced BC Ferries to cancel many sailings between the mainland and Vancouver Island, and many sailings to the Gulf Islands in the morning, delaying thousands of long-weekend travellers with plans to return home.

By 11 a.m. PT, the worst of the storm had crossed the coast and some of the cancelled ferries were resuming service. As the storm headed inland, wind warnings were still in place for many areas of the interior.

The storm hit first Sunday night and strengthened as it crossed the coast the next morning, knocking down trees and taking out power lines.

The power outages struck the Vancouver and Victoria areas most heavily, but also impacted an area stretching from Bella Bella on the central coast to 100 Mile House in the Interior.

BC Hydro crews were working round the clock to restore service, said spokeswoman Gillian Robinson.

A number of BC Ferries routes were cancelled in the morning. As of 1:15 p.m., BC Ferries listed their status as follows:

• Powell River-Texada Island - Sailing Cancellation
• Chemainus-Thetis Island-Kuper Island - Sailing Resumes
• Quadra Island-Cortes Island - Sailing Resumes
• Swartz Bay-Southern Gulf Islands - Sailing Delay - Operational
• Denman Island-Hornby Island - Service Resumes
• Earls Cove-Saltery Bay - Sailing Resumes
• Departure Bay-Horseshoe Bay - Sailing Resumes
• Salt Spring Island-Crofton - Sailing Resumes
• Tsawwassen-Southern Gulf Islands - Sailing Cancellation - Weather
• Campbell River-Quadra Island - Service Resumes
• Comox-Powell River - Sailing Cancellation - Weather
• Swartz Bay-Tsawwassen - Sailing Cancellation - Weather
• Duke Point-Tsawwassen - Sailing Cancellation - Weather

Most sailings that remained cancelled, including those between Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen, were expected to resume sometime in the afternoon.

Harbour Air floatplane flights were also cancelled in the morning between the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island, and Saltspring Island, but the Helijet service was still operating between Victoria and Vancouver.

Highways closed amid snow, wind, rain warnings

Trees, snow and mudslides also closed several highways and roads across the province, including the Sea-to-Sky Highway 99, Highway 19A between Parksville and Campbell River, Highway 19 near the junction with Sayward Road, Highway 20 from Young Creek to Anahim Lake, and Highway 7 from east of Ruskin.

Wind and waves washed through the Tsawwassen Ferry terminal Monday morning as a major storm shut down ferry service on several routes.

Snow was falling on the Coquihalla Summit on Highway 5. As well, snowfall warnings were posted for the Interior for the Chilcotin Region and the Williston area north of Prince George, where 15 centimetres of snow were expected to fall by Monday afternoon.

Wind and rain warnings were posted for Monday for Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, Howe Sound, Sunshine Coast and up the Fraser Valley into the Fraser Canyon.

Environment Canada was predicting southeast winds of 60 kilometres per hour, gusting to 90 km/h for the south coast. Total rainfall amounts were expected to be up to 150 millimetres for west Vancouver Island and up to 100 millimetres for inland Vancouver Island, north Vancouver Island, east Vancouver Island and Howe Sound.

Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast and Whistler were told to expect total rainfall amounts of 40 to 60 millimetres.

Gusts up to 107 km/h were reported on Saturna Island Monday morning, and 110 km/h in the Abbotsford area. The wind was expected to shift from the southeast to the southwest later in the morning and the heavy rain was expected to end later in the afternoon.