B.C. storm downs trees, knocks out power to thousands on Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island
A powerful windstorm hit areas of the Lower Mainland on Friday, bringing down several trees and leaving thousands without power for hours.
According to Environment Canada, winds were gusting up to 90 km/h late Friday.
"We do have some big trees in this part of the world, and after these couple of summers of prolonged heat and drought, some of them are quite weakened," said storm chaser Ryan Voutilainen.
BC Hydro reported power outages across the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island, affecting thousands of residents and businesses, including a restaurant in West Vancouver that lost power for about three hours.
"It's heartbreaking," said Ramboc Rezaie, the chief operating officer and general manager of JJ's Kitchen West Vancouver.
"We have the servers here now and ready, the kitchen is fully staffed for a very busy Friday night and, unfortunately, the majority of the business that we anticipated was gone tonight and it's very upsetting," he said.
The owner of the restaurant, Julia Karimi, said power outages happen frequently and it's affecting her business.
While they have an emergency power generator, she said it isn't enough to operate her restaurant.
"We've been here for about a year and two months, and we've had at least three or four outages," she said.
Several ferries were also cancelled Friday, but service was restored for most evening sailings.
Voutilainen said Friday's storm was normal for winter and it's nothing to be concerned about.
"A lot of this has to do with topography. So, depending on where you were in the Lower Mainland, you may have only seen some blustery conditions and thought, 'Well this isn't really that exciting or that eventful,'" he said.
"But as you got towards the water and towards the southeast sections in Metro Vancouver, we did see some substantial wind gusts up to the 80 km/h range. And over the water, some of them were gusting up to 95 km/h," he added.
Voutilainen said people should expect more wind as the season continues, and in the meantime, he urges everyone to be prepared and have an emergency kit ready in case of power outages.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Air quality advisories issued in 5 provinces, 1 territory
Air quality advisories are in effect across Western Canada as smoky conditions plague some areas, according to the latest forecasts. Here's where.
'Oh my God, you're my brother': Man in his 70s discovers 6 unknown siblings
After receiving a DNA kit one Christmas from his son-in-law, Hugh McCormick soon discovered that he had six unknown siblings, with whom he shared the same birth parents.
No refund for travellers who cancelled flight already scrapped by airline: regulator
Four years on, the controversy over whether airlines owed refunds to passengers after cancelling hundreds of thousands of flights during the pandemic continues to simmer, aggravated by a sluggish, opaque complaints process.
Just how bad are ultraprocessed foods? Here are 5 things to know
Many foods fall under the category of ultraprocessed foods, depending on their exact ingredients. This type of food has been studied a lot lately, and the results aren’t great.
'My family doctor just fired me': Ontario patients frustrated with de-rostering
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
Rates of cancer declining in Canada, but more work needed to save lives: projections
A new study projecting declining rates of cancer cases and deaths in Canada demonstrates the success of prevention and early detection programs, but also highlights areas where more work is needed to save and prolong lives, researchers say.
DEVELOPING Trump trial arrives at a pivotal moment: Star witness Michael Cohen is poised to take the stand
The star prosecution witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial is set to take the stand Monday with testimony that could help shape the outcome of the first criminal case against an American president.
India's mammoth election is more than halfway done as millions begin voting in fourth round
Millions of Indians across 96 constituencies began casting their ballots on Monday as the country's gigantic, six-week-long election edges past its halfway mark. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a third straight term with an eye on winning a supermajority in Parliament.
Ottawa pizzeria places among top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world at international competition
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.