The bomb cyclone that swept across Vancouver Island Tuesday night and into Wednesday lived up to its name, snapping old-growth trees and power poles, knocking out power for tens of thousands of customers, closing several highways, delaying ferries, and shuttering some schools.
Winds of 170 km/h were clocked at Sartine Island in north Vancouver Island and 113 km/h at Race Rocks in Greater Victoria.
B.C. Hydro said overall, more than 300,000 customers were affected, with the hardest-hit areas Nanaimo, Victoria, Duncan, Ladysmith and Port Hardy.
By 5 p.m. Wednesday, power had been restored to 80 per cent of them, B.C. Hydro said, although about 65,000 customers remained without power, mostly on the Island and in the Gulf Islands.
Spokesman Ted Olynyk called it one of the worst storms he’s ever experienced. “Whether it was a bomb or a cyclone, it was a very significant event.”
B.C. Hydro had prepared for the storm, sending crews home early Tuesday to be ready for overnight repairs, and bringing crews from the Lower Mainland over to help.
The damage, including broken poles and blown transformers, was “pretty significant,” and could take days to repair in some cases, Olynyk said. “This is certainly going to be a multi-day event for some customers.”
Olynyk advised that anyone who encounters a downed wire stay 10 metres back and call 911, as it could be live. The storm, he said, is a reminder to have an emergency kit prepared so that you can get you through 72 hours without power.
Duff Johnson, who has lived on his rural waterfront property in Saseenos near Sooke for the past 28 years, said he’s seen some wicked windstorms over the years, but “nothing that caused damage like this.”
Johnston said Tuesday’s howling winds, estimated at over 110 km/h, brought down a three-foot-diameter, 100-foot-high fir tree at its roots, causing a domino effect with two other cedar trees that fell across his driveway and blocked access to his property. None of the three homes on his three-acre property were damaged.
The trees fell about 7 p.m. on Tuesday, about 10 minutes after Johnston’s son left the property to buy some supplies.
“That was very lucky,” Johnston said. “He had just left and a few minutes later we heard the big crack and then a huge thump.”
The downed fir left a two-metre-deep hole that partially cratered the driveway, blocking vehicle access.
“That’s the worst I’ve ever seen,” said Johnston. “We usually get westerly winds here, but this was from the east, so the trees just came down.”
Johnson, who operates fishing charters in the summer, said he doesn’t have a working generator, which has left him worried about the stores of salmon in his freezer.
A B.C. Hydro crew arrived for an assessment Wednesday morning, but Johnston said he was told it could take a while to have power restored.
“You just have to wait in line … there’s about 700 people in [nearby] Sun River and we’re just a couple of people here, so it could be a while,” said Johnston. “The main thing is nobody was hurt and nothing of value was damaged.”
Several highways were closed because of storm damage, although most were reopened or had single-lane alternating traffic by Wednesday afternoon.
Highway 4 at Cathedral Grove was closed after several trees, including one large fir, trapped a semi-trailer truck.
Access to Port Renfrew via Highway 14 was also cut off east of Jordan River after trees fell on the highway and downed hydro lines.
Chris Cowley, general manager of Mainroad North Island Contracting, which maintains all of the major roads north of Parksville, said about 200 trees had to be removed on roadways in the region, including Highways 19, 28 and 30, over a 24-hour period.
“At times we closed the highways because we didn’t want our crews going to remove a tree and then risk getting stuck in there with trees falling behind them,” said Cowley.
He said Mainroad hired contract fallers to assist in cutting up some of the trees and then used snowplows to push them to the sides. “Now we’re doing some of that cleanup,” he said.
Clearing snowfall also proved to be a challenge from the Comox Valley to Port Hardy.
In higher elevations, Cowley said as much as a metre of snow fell in a 24-hour period. He said crews worked to clear the road to Mount Washington Alpine Resort through most of Wednesday.
The resort, which is planning to open Dec. 13, was reporting heavy snow on Wednesday. “They’re pretty happy up there to see all the snow,” said Cowley, adding the storm was the biggest of the season so far, but he expects more. “The forecast is looking pretty hairy for late November and early December.”
Several cities advised residents to stay clear of parks to avoid fallen trees or trees that may still come down.
The District of Sooke said its Emergency Support Services team was deployed to at least four homes that had suffered significant damage from fallen trees, with more being assessed.
Arborists on the south Island were kept busy starting Tuesday night, and the calls ramped up early Wednesday when the light of day revealed the extent of the damage.
“We’ve been going steady from Sooke to Sidney,” Trevor Coey, an arborist representative from Bartlett Tree Experts, said Wednesday afternoon.
He said calls have ranged from trees downing power lines and blocking roads to dangling branches posing risks and a tree crown piercing a roof in Central Saanich. He said there were no injuries in the latter case.
Coey said many of the tree failures were from the sheer force of the wind gusts that lashed the region.
Some trees just broke apart while others were uprooted at the base. “We’ve had a tremendous amount of rain lately and when you combine over-saturated soils with high wind, there’s no friction left in the roots to hold the tree in place,” said Coey. “It just goes over.”
Cole Langford of Langford Brothers Arborists was working in the Highlands Wednesday morning and also had crews in East Sooke dealing with all types of tree failures, including some with dry rot, a type of fungal decay.
“We will be going pretty steady, probably right through to Friday,” said Langford.
Davis Fernstrom, who operates Eagle’s Eye Tree Care, said he was out doing quotes on jobs in East Sooke, talking with several homeowners who had near misses as trees fell between buildings.
“What amazed me was the amount of neighbours and people out there with chainsaws helping each other clean up,” said Fernstrom. “That was really great to see.”
Meanwhile, B.C. Ferries spokeswoman Ceilidh Marlow said more than 170 sailings had been cancelled as of Wednesday afternoon.
Routes between the Island and mainland were hardest hit. Sailings between Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen and to some of the Gulf Islands had resumed by mid-morning Wednesday, but cancellations continued north of Nanaimo, Marlow said.
Marlow advised travellers to check B.C. Ferries’ website for service notices and updates on current conditions.
Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog said city crews were out all night, ensuring catch basins were cleared and public facilities had access to power, but he expects power outages could continue in some areas of the community into Thursday. “Lantzville as I understand it is entirely without power.”
Several schools were closed in the Nanaimo-Ladysmith Public School District, including all schools in Ladysmith and Cedar. Some schools were also closed in the Comox Valley and Campbell River school districts.
The Gulf Islands School District said its water taxi was cancelled Wednesday.
