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Thousands in southern B.C. without power in aftermath of winter storm

Majority of power outages impacting Shuswap region
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A five-tonne truck is just barely visible following the second winter storm to hit the Shuswap since the New Year. (Liisa Hoas/Contributed)

Thousands awoke in the dark Saturday following a southerly moving winter storm overnight, which brought strong wind gusts and extensive rain and snow.

Roughly 14,000 BC Hydro customers in the Thompson-Shuswap region were without power Saturday morning, according to the power utility’s website.

A further 1,350 customers were in the dark in the Okanagan and Kootenay regions, and 1,700 in the Lower Mainland.

Meanwhile, Campbell River on Vancouver Island was hardest hit overnight, with more than 1,200 customers impacted.

A majority of the outages were cause by trees falling on wires.

ALSO READ: Much of B.C. under weather warnings as winter storm touches down on south coast

On Friday, Environment Canada placed a number of cities along the south coast under weather warnings due to a Pacific storm moving to the mainland from Vancouver Island. The storm cancelled a number of BC Ferries between Nanaimo and Vancouver.

A Snowfall warning is still in effect along the Coquihalla Highway. The national weather agency is calling for up to 15 centimetres of snow to fall along the major highway, followed by a further five to 10 centimetres overnight and into Sunday.


@ashwadhwani
ashley.wadhwani@bpdigital.ca

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