More than 30,000 residents remain without power after a severe wind storm hit Vancouver Island and the lower mainland of British Columbia.
As of 11 a.m. local time Saturday, nearly 28,000 BC Hydro customers were still without power on Vancouver Island after Friday's storm. On the lower mainland, about 6,000 BC Hydro customers were still affected by the power outage, according to the utility provider's website.
Environment Canada meteorologist Kenneth Chan told CTV News Channel that the storm was caused by the meeting of two different weather systems.
"We had a pretty strong jet stream across the Pacific, and an intense low pressure system formed from upper level disturbance along with cold air coming from the north, so that's how the wind storm formed over the Pacific on Thursday and tracked through the west coast on Friday," Chan said Saturday morning.
The fierce winds disrupted ferry service, tore down power lines and shut down Vancouver's famous Lions Gate Bridge.
Passengers who managed to sail on ferries between Vancouver and Victoria on Friday described seeing massive swells accompanied by fierce winds that topped 100 kilometres per hour.
The wind storm moved inland Saturday morning, but weakened as it hit the mountains.
