Thousands still without power on the Sunshine Coast

The Sunshine Coast is mopping up after a storm unexpectedly hit the Coast Monday morning.

Outages

Pockets of outages remain in Pender Harbour, Roberts Greek, Elphinstone, Port Mellon and Langdale, while most of Halfmoon Bay remains without power.

As of 12:30 p.m., Nov. 5, BC Hydro’s outage map still lists more than 30 outages on the lower Coast affecting more than 4,200 people.

BC Hydro’s regional alert just after 9 a.m. said they expect to have the remaining customers’ power restored by later today, with the Sunshine Coast among the most challenging areas for crews, with additional resources being brought in to help repairs.

EOC

The Sunshine Coast Regional District activated an emergency operations centre (EOC) Monday afternoon to coordinate the response, which remains in effect Tuesday, but by the end of the day may be looking at “wrapping up,” said EOC director Rob Michael just before noon. While the EOC is checking in with other agencies, such as BC Hydro and Capilano Highways, “it seems like every agency that we talk to has things fairly well in hand.”

Michael called the damage “widespread” and noted they had a number of calls for trees fallen on homes –– at least a half dozen, though he notes some residents would have called their insurance companies directly, not calling 911, so the fire departments wouldn’t be aware of those instances.

There were no injuries reported to him, said Michael. "I think we, we got off very lucky that way."

One small water system in Hopkins Landing is suffering a power outage, said Michael. They have some capacity in their reservoir to "get them through the next day or two" but the EOC has discussed the matter with BC Hydro to see if they can expedite that repair. "So that's the advantage of our EOC activation." 

Road closures

The highway was closed for more than four hours in Halfmoon Bay Monday, near the south entrance to Redrooffs Road, as crews worked to clear downed trees and powerlines. The road reopened just after 4 p.m. Monday.

As of noon Tuesday, Michael said he was unaware of any highway closures, though he says Capilano Highways sent out “a number of teams” this morning to confirm there weren’t any additional closures that weren’t reported.

There is an ongoing closure at Redrooffs Road “as hydro still has a tremendous amount of work to do in that area.”

Don’t move barricades flagging tape

Michael said they’re receiving reports of people moving barricades, cones and flagging tape, which is there to warn people (of danger). “And that’s really disheartening,” said Michael.

“Residents should stay clear of power lines and not remove any barriers or cones placed by emergency responders,” he said.

Michael reiterated that the public needs to stay clear from downed power lines. "I know we want to get that Instagram post out there, but they're very, very dangerous."

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