Langley was one of the hardest hit communities after Sunday’s windstorm surged through the Lower Mainland.
As of 9 p.m. Sunday about 90,000 BC Hydro customers were left without power, 16,300 of them in Langley.
Fortunately, by Monday morning power was restored to 97 per cent of customers impacted by the windstorm, the Crown corporation said in a 6:30 a.m. update.
READ MORE: Most people regain power after winds batter Lower Mainland, BC Hydro says
“Crews have been working around-the-clock to restore power, replacing dozens of spans of power line as well power poles, transformers and cross-arms,” BC Hydro explained.
As of 10 a.m. there were only two outages listed in Langley, affecting fewer than five customers.
But Sunday told a very different story, said Dale Steeple assistant fire chief with the Township of Langley.
“Our call volume yesterday was about doubled, but mainly in [the] Walnut Grove/Willoughby area due to the large power outage that happened around 11:30 a.m.,” he said.
READ MORE: VIDEO: Thousands lose power in Langley’s Walnut Grove
Township crews responded to several alarm calls, and reports of wires and trees down.
Despite the higher-than-normal call volume, Township firefighters were able to spare a few crew members to assist Langley’s neighbours to the west.
“Our Surrey dispatch centre was becoming overloaded with calls around [4 p.m.] when the second wave blew through,” Steeple said. “We began dispatching ourselves to assist them, but we were never stretched thin.”
Crews have restored power to more than 97% of customers impacted by the #BCStorm that hit the #LowerMainland, #SunshineCoast and #VancouverIsland on Sunday. Latest operational update: https://t.co/Qgkd8zVXai pic.twitter.com/Rh5ri0inVv
— BC Hydro (@bchydro) March 29, 2021
Resources in Langley City were also responding to the storm.
“City of Langley only had three wires down calls in a four hour span, along with a couple of alarms calls that were likely power outage-related,” said Scott Kennedy, deputy fire chief with the City.
BC Hydro said crews will continue to work throughout the day Monday to restore power to those still without.
For up to the date information visit www.bchydro.com.
@JotiGrewal_
joti.grewal@blackpress.ca
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