BC storm conditions to pick up again, warns City of Vancouver

On Saturday, winds of up to 80 km/h brought trees and huge branches crashing down onto power lines and cars. Traffic lights were reported to be out at four-way intersections in Vancouver, and a press release from Surrey RCMP read that a mother walking with her daughter on Saturday afternoon was struck by a falling tree and sent to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

It could take until Monday morning to restore power to some areas. “We are still getting to all those trouble areas one at a time and crews are in the field working as quickly as possible”.

The most affected areas include Burnaby, Coquitlam, Surrey and Vancouver.

Downed trees littered the streets blocking roads after wind and rain warnings were issued for Metro Vancouver.

Heer notes the website is a key resource for our customers and admits it’s been very frustrating that it went down during the height of the storm.

On Saturday, strong winds also swept through Rock Creek in the Kootenay Boundary region, where a 44-square kilometre wildfire destroyed 30 homes earlier this month.

BC Hydro is reporting outages in Richmond, Surrey, Abbotsford and downtown Vancouver.

Heer said the outages were due to trees and branches falling on power lines. Environment Canada is calling for upwards of 40 mm of rain to fall in Vancouver.

The agency cancelled wind warnings Saturday evening for Metro Vancouver, Greater Victoria, Abbotsford and the Southern Gulf Islands.

Drive B.C. issued an 80 kilometre per hour speed limit from Westbridge to Rock Creek, warning drivers to watch for debris and dusts from gusting winds.