VANCOUVER -- BC Hydro's outage map lit up with red across the Lower Mainland and the southern end of Vancouver Island Sunday, as strong winds knocked down wires and tree branches.
Shortly after 11 a.m., the utility tweeted the first of what would end up being nine different outages affecting at least 400 customers each, all of them reported before 3 p.m.
On the mainland, large outages were reported in Mission, Coquitlam, Langley and Burnaby, as well as in Roberts Creek on the Sunshine Coast.
Elsewhere, significant outages were also seen Galiano and Salt Spring islands, as well as in Parksville and Sooke.
That last outage prompted the closure of BC Highway 14 in Sooke, with the municipality tweeting that the closure was due to a blown transformer and a downed tree branch.
High winds and downed trees were responsible for most of the outages, according to BC Hydro. Wind also caused the cancellation of several BC Ferries sailings between the island and the Lower Mainland Sunday.
