As residents of British Columbia's south coast dig themselves out of the snow, while waiting for power to be restored, rising temperatures are expected to cause more problems in the coming days.

As the snow melts and turns into water, house and business owners are being advised to keep an eye out for possible flooding around their properties.

"Be wary of drains, drains in driveways, downspouts, gutters on houses,'' said Trace Acres of the British Columbia Automobile Association. " If they are frozen, go check them, and make sure the spout is away from the house,'' he said.

The threat of flooding has arrived after thousands of British Columbians spent Christmas Day without power.

At the peak of Wednesday's storm, there were more than 30,000 people without power on the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.

BC Hydro had whittled that down to 6,000 by Christmas morning.

But efforts to restore power were hampered by treacherous highways.

The Tri Cities - including Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, and Port Moody - were among the areas hardest hit by the power outages.

As usual, the main problem is fallen wires or trees falling on hydro wires.

Related Links: BC Hydro website

Related Links: Power Outage list