With the Nov. 19 ‘bomb cyclone’ moving away from west coast Vancouver Island, people are assessing the damage while others are stranded due to road closures.
The massive storm approached Vancouver Island late in the afternoon of November 19. Environment Canada warns that strong winds will continue Wednesday morning with southeasterly winds gusting to 110 kilometres an hour.
One meteorologist stated that a wind buoy located at the north end of Vancouver Island recorded a wind gust speed of 101 miles per hour, or 162.5 km/hr.
The Ministry of Transport and Transit issued a statement on Nov. 19 warning drivers of downed power lines, trees and debris on several roadways. By nightfall, there were several closures, including Highway 14 west of Sooke, the Pacific Marine Circle Route (Lake Cowichan to Port Renfrew), Highway 18 at Hillcrest and Highway 28 between Campbell River and Gold River.
Near Zeballos, the forest service road was closed at the 30 km mark following a landslide. Workers cleared that section of the road by 10 a.m. on Nov. 20 but drivers are warned that there is a tree down at the 7 km mark that is partially obstructing the road, which remains passable with a single lane.
Highway 4 on both sides of Port Alberni was closed due to fallen trees, although by noon on Wednesday the road from Port Alberni to Coombs had been opened for singe-lane alternating traffic. In Tofino, a large cedar tree fell on the roadway blocking Highway 4. This closed the route at Yew Road, with no detour available. According to Drive BC, work continues on clearing this section of Highway 4 and the next update will be at 2 p.m.
More trees fell east of Port Alberni, closing Highway 4 between Aspenden and Chatsworth roads. This section of the highway was cleared by noon, Nov. 20, according to Drive BC.
Both BC and Hullo Ferry services have cancelled sailing between Vancouver Island and the Mainland for the morning of Nov. 20.
The trees damaged hydro poles and power lines across B.C., causing over 300,000 people to be without electricity. By noon on Nov. 20 BC Hydro reported that most of these outages had been fixed, although certain areas could still not be accessed.
“Of the more than 300,000 customers impacted since last night, more than 210,000 customers have been restored,” stated BC Hydro at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 20. “However, with strong winds expected to continue today in some areas, particularly on Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast, further outages are expected.”
Large blackouts remained for Clayoquot Sound communities, Gold River and Tsaxana, Bamfield and Nitinaht.
“Drought-damaged trees and branches came down on electrical equipment during the windstorm causing extensive damage,” noted the power utility. “BC Hydro has had all available BC Hydro crews and contractor crews working since last night, and work will continue throughout the day. Resources will be brought over from the Lower Mainland to support restoration efforts on Vancouver Island today as well.”
According to Environment Canada, the storm warning remains in effect with another major windstorm expected to arrive on Friday.
