Power outages, delayed ferry sailings as strong winds pummel B.C.

Thousands of B.C. Hydro customers werewithout power Friday night, while ferry sailings between Vancouver and Victoria were delayed by two hours as a powerful windstorm hitareas of Metro Vancouver and the South Coast.

Hydro crews responded topower outagesaffecting 1,402 customers in Surrey and LangleyFriday afternoon, as well as 263 customers in Vancouver. The majority of those issues were resolved by 8 p.m. PT,although around 50 households were still without poweracross Metro Vancouver.

B.C. Hydro said a transmission circuit failure on Highway 99 north of Vancouver knocked out power to hundreds ofcustomers, and 31 households on the SunshineCoast also lost electricity.

On MayneIsland,1,629customerswere affected by two separate outages, with Saturna, Pender and Salt Spring Islands seeing smaller outages affecting 10, five and50 people respectively. By 10:30 p.m. Friday, B.C. Hydro said crews made good progress but a small number of customers on Saturna, Mayne and Salt Spring Islands would be without power overnight.

Thewindstorm, packing gusts between 60 and 90 km/h,caused the cancellationof a fewFriday afternoon ferry sailings between Vancouver and Victoria.

"I was wanting to travel on the 5 p.m. ferry for Victoria," said Meenal Gitshi who came from Burnaby to the Tsawassen terminal hoping to visit family Friday evening.

"It wasn't that bad [in Burnaby] but the moment I came up on the ferry terminal side, it's really bad," she said. "I understand why they're not sailing."

B.C. Ferriesinitially saidservicebetween theTsawwassenand Swartz Bay terminals was cancelled until at least 6p.m. PT, but the weather improved enough for sailings to resume at 5 p.m. All of the departures from 3 p.m. onward were delayed by two hours.

Shortly after 7 p.m., the ferry service said sailings on the Sunshine Coast were no longer at risk of cancellations and were going ahead as scheduled, while service to the Gulf Islands had resumed but was delayed.

Warnings issued by Environment and Climate Change Canadasaid the windstorm was expected to hit certain areas of Metro Vancouver and the South Coast Friday evening. Those same winds areforecast to batter areas in theStrait of Georgia, including East Vancouver Island, the southern Gulf Islands, and the Sunshine Coast.

The weather and climate agencyalso warnedhigh winds could damagebuildings,roof shingles and windows, as well as topple treeswhich could result in power outages across the region.

Motorists are asked to monitor the agency's alerts and forecasts before travelling on highways in the affected areas.