Canadian Storm Cancels Ferries

While the UK has been hit with strong winds and heavy rain, storms are hitting Canada as well. Gale force winds and heavy rain hit northern Vancouver Island on Wednesday, resulting in cancelled ferry services and power outages across the region. Environment Canada has forecast the storm to calm, but more rain is due throughout the week while temperatures hover around 5ºC.

BC Ferries’ morning sailings on several routes were cancelled due to the weather. Some of the routes affected were Port Hardy-Bella Bella-Prince Rupert and Comox-Powell River. The storm had started on Tuesday night, resulting in two round trips between Texada Island and Powell River being cancelled, along with two round trips between Cortez and Quadra Island.

The company’s Northern Expedition ship was held up at the Skidegate terminal due to high winds on Tuesday afternoon, and it missed three scheduled sailings to Prince Rupert at 11am on Wednesday. Spokeswoman Deborah Marshall said at the time that the ferry does three different runs that are all long routes.

The BC River Forecast Centre reported the east coast of the island getting 120mm of rain in just the first 24 hours of the storm, while wind gusts were reported to be 80kmph. Due to a subtropical weather system, an additional 30-50mm of rain was expected to fall during the night.

When the storm swept in overnight, it caused about 6,500 power outages across the northern part of the island, with a majority happening in Yellow Point, Cedar and Nanaimo. The homes were left without power until 1pm on Wednesday. Two waves of outages were experienced in Gabriola (in the south of the island), and the second one happened to almost 900 homes in the afternoon on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, four schools in Gabriola and Cedar remained without power for a majority of the morning, but no students were sent home. Tricia McKay, the principal of Gabriola Elementary, said that some of their pupils’ parents picked their children up early, as they know it can take a while for the power to be restored.

BC Hydro spokesman Ted Olynyk says that the power outages weren’t bad considering the incredible and intense amount of rainfall. The only concern left is further wind, as trees will become more susceptible to blowing over due to the loose and rain-soaked ground.

Advisories were also issued for the rivers throughout the day, though the emergency department of the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) didn’t see a lot of flooding and none in the Nanaimo area. Emergency coordinator Jani Drew says there was some flooding in backyards in Deep Bay and Bowser due to runoff. The Englishman River also breached its banks at Martindale Road, which made the road harder to access but not too dangerous for drivers.