Power could remain out for days north and east of Prince George

It was a rough weekend around Prince George, where strong winds brought down trees and power lines Friday, leaving families without electricity and BC Hydro crews facing repairs that won't all be finished overnight.

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Photos from BC Hydro media release.

By 5 p.m. Sunday, November 8, approximately 30,000 customers remained without power across B.C., down from about 135,000 at the overnight peak. BC Hydro said nearly 415,000 customer outages had been recorded since Friday, a cumulative total rather than the number still in the dark.

The most difficult repairs are now north and east of Prince George. BC Hydro reported about 200 spans of downed wire across the Central Interior, along with broken poles, damaged crossarms and other equipment. Fallen trees, soft ground and poor flying conditions have made some damage harder for crews to reach.

For Dennis Kelly, the outages have meant cold nights and a scramble to save the groceries. Kelly lives on Sommerville Road, in Prince George's Blackburn area near Bonnet Hill.

"In some areas it’s nasty. I have had no power at my house for 49hrs and hydro is still saying there is no crew assigned."

"I scrambled to borrow a generator today as you can’t buy one here right now, trying to save the contents of the fridge and freezer."

Kelly said the updates had been frustrating, although he understood crews were stretched.

"As far as any communication from BC Hydro that is a zero. I have to log into my hydro account and even on there the updates are infrequent."

"But again, I know they are extremely busy and will get to us."

He also described a damaged pole near his driveway, in a photo he said was taken Saturday morning.

"That pole is still leaning out over the road, broken at the base and waiting to fall across the road. No one has come up to deal with it yet."

Kelly said he was preparing to fuel the generator and get some sleep before work Monday.

"With an extra down comforter cause I have no heat in here."

BC Hydro spokesperson Whitney Deane acknowledged that the toughest work remains.

"We’re now working through some of the most difficult repairs, particularly in the Central Interior where there is extensive damage across a large area."

"Some customers will be without power for at least another night and potentially longer. We know how difficult that is, and we appreciate their patience as our crews work as quickly and safely as possible."

BC Hydro said many Prince George customers should expect another night without power. In the hardest-hit rural areas north and east of the city, restoration could take multiple days, with the earliest expected late Tuesday, November 10.

In an earlier warning, Deane said more weather could complicate restoration.

"Additional weather systems are expected through mid-week, and some of the winds could be more impactful than what we’ve seen so far."

A November 5 BC Hydro report also warned that drought, heat and wildfire can weaken trees long before storms arrive.

"There isn't always a clean break between wildfire season and storm season anymore," Deane said.

BC Hydro recommends supplies for at least 72 hours. Stay 10 metres or more from damaged or downed power lines and call 911. Outage updates are available at bchydro.com/outages.