Thousands of Prince George residents appear to be without power as a result of some very strong winds today (Jan. 19).
BC Hydro says more than 7,300 customers have been impacted in several regions of the city and its surrounding areas.
Earlier winds, predicted to reach 70 km/h by Environment Canada, came rolling through and even got up to 90 km/h around 2 p.m. at the Prince George airport.
The gusts knocked down trees and wires leading to the outages, and BC Hydro expects some to stay in the dark longer than expected.
"Strong winds have caused extensive damage in the Central Interior, with the hardest hit area being Prince George," the company explains in an update this afternoon.
"Crews have been working through the day and will continue working on repairs to damaged equipment into the evening but we anticipate some customers to be without power overnight."
.@PG_RCMP have blocked off 5th Avenue at George Street as wind gusts appeared to have loosened part of the roof of @unbc’s Wood Innovation Design Centre. Police on scene have been telling pedestrians & commuters to avoid the area as its not safe | #CityOfPG @PGMatters pic.twitter.com/9FDBM9S66v
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) January 20, 2021
As of this publication, BC Hydro says it's tending to 34 different outages, most of which are smaller clusters.
Some of the larger outages are as follows:
- East of Northwood Pulpmill Road, North of Alpine Drive
- Cause = Under investigation
- 2,217 customers impacted
- North-East of Highway 16, South-West of Tyner Boulevard
- Cause = Under investigation
- 1,449 customers impacted
- South of Dunwick Road, North of Hart Highway, West of Homestead Road
- Cause = Under investigation
- 475 customers impacted
- North-South of Highway 16
- Cause = Under investigation
- 381 customers impacted
- West of Thompson Road, North of Ness Lake Road
- Cause = Under investigation
- 340 customers impacted
- East of Kazakoff Road
- Cause = Under investigation
- 334 customers impacted
- West of Camp Road
- Cause = Downed wire
- 275 customers impacted
- West of Cranbrook Hill Road
- Cause = Trees down across wires
- 254 customers impacted
- East of Highway 16, West of Hilltop Road, North of Leslie Road, South of Park Drive
- Cause = Trees down across wires
- 194 customers impacted
- West of Foothills Boulevard, South of Otway Road
- Cause = Trees down across wires
- 188 customers impacted
- South of Sintich Road, West of Leno Road, North of Willow Cale Forest Service Road
- Cause = Under investigation
- 169 customers impacted
- North-South-East-West of Nechako Road
- Cause = Under investigation
- 162 customers impacted
- Giscome South Road P1, Giscome Pit, Upper Fraser Road P32, 0-block Londeau Street, Railroad Avenue P7, Coonsey Street P7, Upper Fraser Road, 12400 - 14100-block Hubbard Road, 400 - 600 block-Muriel Avenue, 500-block Gwen Avenue
- Cause = Under investigation
- 155 customers impacted
- North-South-East-West of Highway 97
- Cause = Under investigation
- 105 customers impacted
More information on outages and updates can be found on BC Hydro's website.
Wooo… that’s a bit breezy 💨 70 km/h winds predicted by @environmentca are gusting through Prince George, especially through the downtown core, blowing around leaves, moving wires & making traffic signs dance this afternoon (Jan. 19) | #CityOfPG @PGMatters pic.twitter.com/ee0e67spCV
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) January 19, 2021
