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Wind storm cuts power for 15,000 on Vancouver Island

Tuesday’s wind storm had BC Hydro crews hard at work all over Vancouver Island
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UPDATE:

BC Hydro has cleared up many of Tuesday night’s power outages on Vancouver Island.

According to the power company only about 1,200 homes were still without electricity as of 7 a.m. Wednesday morning.

The largest pockets remaining are in Courtenay, Campbell River and on Saturna Island.

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More than 15,000 people are without power after strong winds fell trees and caused power outages up and down Vancouver Island Tuesday evening.

The largest outage is on South Vancouver Island where nearly 7,000 residents are without power, including 4,000 due to high winds in the Oak Bay/Saanich area of Greater Victoria. Another 4,400 have had their power knocked out in the Gulf Islands.

The northern part of the Island is witnessing similar events with outages reported in Campbell River, Courtenay, Port Hardy, Parksville, Qualicum Beach and Nanaimo.

BC Hydro is constantly updated their website, and have now added a large orange box on their outages page saying they expect the number to increase until the winds begin to ease.

Crews have been dispatched to these areas, but exact restoration times are unavailable due to the sheer number of outages. BC Hydro says it needs to assess the full damage and will provide updates throughout the night.

Environment Canada issued a wind warning earlier Tuesday, stating these strong winds could cause damage. They anticipated gusts of up to 90 km/h near the Juan de Fuca strait, but these are expected to ease overnight and into Wednesday morning.

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