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UPDATED: Road closures, power outages across Greater Victoria after windstorm

Rockfall in Goldstream, power line fire in Oak Bay
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A rockfall Tuesday night on the Trans-Canada Highway in Goldstream Provincial Park has been cleared. (Emcon Services Inc./Twitter)

Power outages, road closures and fallen trees caused delays for the morning commute Jan. 13 after a windstorm the night before.

Highway 14 was closed from Grant Road to Port Renfrew with multiple trees and hydro lines down and blocking the roadway. It was deemed passable, if required, by 11 a.m.

BC Hydro crews were on site early Wednesday morning, repairing damaged lines on Craigflower Road near the Gorge Vale Golf Club between Admirals and Tillicum roads.

There were multiple closures and trees down in East Sooke, with reports coming in from East Sooke and Gillespie roads, Roche Cove Bridge, and East Sooke and Rocky Point roads.

Shortly before 8:30 a.m., VicPD also shared on social media that officers were dealing with downed power lines in the 500-block of Paradise Street in Esquimalt with the help of municipal public works staff.

“The area is safely contained but traffic is disrupted in the area,” police said.

RELATED: Greater Victoria schools face power outages, cancelled bus routes

By 8 a.m., the Saanich Police Department had already received multiple calls about fallen trees blocking roads and downed powerlines in the municipality.

“Please take care driving today and report any obstructions or safety concerns on the roads to us,” Saanich police said in a social media post.

In Oak Bay, the public works building had a tree fall down and damage some older equipment, said public works superintendent David Brozuk.

At 7:30 a.m., BC Hydro reported more than 21,000 customers without power on the south Island. Areas of the Saanich Peninsula and the West Shore were hit especially hard.

In Central Saanich, nearly a dozen outages impacted a few thousand customers. Two larger outages impacted the bulk of those residences, the first south of Kersey Road, west of the Pat Bay Highway and north of Charlton Road impacting 1,220 customers. The second outage crossed into North Saanich, impacting 1,166 customers south of McTavish Road, east of Dean Park Road, north of Jeffree Road and west of Emard Terrace.

North Saanich had seven other smaller outages listed, with the most significant on Towner Road, where 50 customers were without power. Sidney reported no outages, according to BC Hydro’s outage map, but Sidney Volunteer Fire Department asked residents to be mindful of debris on local roads.

Commercial flights scheduled to land or depart Victoria International Airport throughout the morning appeared on time.

READ MORE: Winds up to 70 km/h expected across Greater Victoria

On the West Shore, dozens of outages impacted thousands of residents.

In a regional alert posted at 1 a.m. on Jan. 13, BC Hydro said heavy winds caused significant outages on the southern Island and Gulf Islands. Environment Canada warned that strong winds of up to 70 km/h were expected into early Wednesday afternoon.

At 7 a.m., BC Hydro was reporting approximately 100,000 customers without power on the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and the southern interior.

And according to Emcon Services Inc., a rockfall on the Trans-Canada Highway in Goldstream Provincial Park has been cleared. Crews were on scene late Tuesday night clearing debris.


 

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