There were still more than 90,000 British Columbians without power Friday evening after a wicked windstorm wreaked havoc on the province's southwest, and BC Hydro warned some people could be waiting days for service.

Cleanup and repair crews were hard at work across the region Friday morning taking care of the messes left by the powerful storm, which downed trees onto highways, homes and power lines.

About 63,000 hydro customers on Vancouver Island and 30,000 in the Lower Mainland remained without electricity by mid-morning, resulting in about a dozen school closures in Abbotsford and Surrey.

That’s roughly half as many as were affected at the height of Thursday's windstorm, which BC Hydro described as one of the most severe weather systems its crews have dealt with in years.

The utility provider said the extent of the damage to electrical infrastructure was extensive, and it could take days for some people to get service back.

"All available crews and resources will be working around the clock until the damage is repaired," the Crown corporation said in an outage update Friday. "We appreciate your patience and will continue to provide updates as available."

Repairs to White Rock pier expected to last months

In White Rock, the popular promenade remained completely closed off Friday for public safety.

The windstorm sent trees and branches crashing onto the street and split the iconic White Rock pier in two, trapping a man on the far end as pieces of the platform collapsed into the crashing waves.

Fortunately, Oren Perry was plucked off the pier by helicopter and carried to safety.

"I'm good – cold and wet," he told reporters back on solid ground.

"I wanted to experience mother nature at her best, I guess you could say," Perry said when CTV News caught up with him the next day.

But what he got was mother nature at her worst.

Perry said the pier started shaking. His wife, son and mother-in-law went back to shore, but he stayed.

"I thought we were going to be fine throughout the whole ordeal," he said. "At some point, I realized I'm an idiot."

Video from his iPhone shows boats smashing against the pier and waves crashing around him.

"I was backing up. At that point, I realized I shouldn't be too close," he said.

A crowd was growing on shore. Perry's wife was texting him telling him a rescue was being mounted and that he should stay put until the arrival of a helicopter.

"They hovered over me for a while," he said. "A guy came down, put the harness around me and up we went and plucked me over to the safe side."

On Friday, Mayor Darryl Walker described the intense storm as a once-in-a-lifetime weather event.

"I've lived here 50 years, I've never seen a storm like this. I've never seen devastation like this," Walker said while urging people to steer clear of the promenade and pier until they're reopened.

"It's not safe to be there, folks. I know people want to have a look around their community, but please respect the lines that are up, the barricades that are up."

Officials estimate about a section of the pier about 30 metres long collapsed, and that it could take months before it's fixed.

"It's a major project," he said. "We'll have to get structural engineers in to have a look at what that looks like (and) make sure we do everything right as we go along," he said.

But before the rebuild comes the cleanup.

Debris was everywhere on the water and on shore Friday. Several members of the community, including local high school students, showed up to help.

Damage being assessed at homes, properties

Meanwhile, crews were working to assess the damage at homes and properties where trees came crashing down amid gusting winds of up to 100 km/h.

That included a house at 15th Avenue and Yukon Street in Vancouver, where a large tree snapped and fell down onto the roof. Elsewhere, toppling trees and falling branches damaged parked cars, fences and farms.

There's no estimate yet of how much the destruction across the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island will cost.

BC Ferries service had returned to normal by Thursday night following more than 80 cancelled sailings on at least 13 routes, but big lineups are expected on Friday as delayed travellers try to finally get their holiday plans underway.

The company recommends passengers check the BC Ferries website before heading out to the terminal.

With files from CTV Vancouver's Sheila Scott, David Molko , Maria Weisgarber and Nafeesa Karim