Port Coquitlam was one of the areas hardest hit by Monday night's powerful wind storm.
BC Hydro reported winds gusting at more than 100 km/h Monday night left about 83,000 customers without power; 15,200 of them were in PoCo. Surrey got the biggest wallop, with 28,000 customers left in the dark.
PoCo spokesperson Pardeep Purewal said damage there included a tree that fell on overhead hydro wires in the 1800-block of Western Drive, causing the closure of that roadway. At Hastings and Glenwood, a fallen live power line resulted in a fire in the pole. Several areas of PoCo were also littered with large branches and other debris that fell onto roadways during the storm.
Nearly 50 Hydro staff and contractor crews were dispatched started at midnight to restore power as quickly as possible, with most areas back on line by early afternoon Tuesday.
BC Hydro is recommending residents be prepared for winter power outages by taking the following steps:
Report an outage by calling 1-888-POWERON or *HYDRO on your mobile phone
Have an emergency kit on hand with flashlights, a battery-operated radio, extra batteries, corded telephone, warm clothing and blankets, first aid kit, non-perishable and ready-to-eat foods, games and cards to keep everyone busy.
Turn off appliances and electronics, especially electric heaters, during an outage. When power is restored appliances left on can overload the system and potentially cause a second outage.
Turn off all lights except one inside and one outside so you and BC Hydro know when the power comes back on.
