Republished October 15, 2016 - 7:00 PM
Original Publication Date October 15, 2016 - 12:30 PM
VANCOUVER - The third and strongest storm in a series of disturbances fuelled by the remnants of typhoon Songda cancelled ferry service and knocked out power for thousands of customers on the south coast of British Columbia on Saturday.
BC Hydro spokeswoman Simi Heer says additional crews from the interior were called in ahead of the storm to provide support in areas that are expected to see the most damage.
Heer says customers should be patient if they lose power and only call emergency services if they see downed wires.
BC Hydro's website indicated thousands of customers were affected by outages on Saturday.
City parks in Victoria and Vancouver's Stanley Park have been closed to the public to prevent accidents with falling trees and branches.
BC Ferries cancelled a number of routes Saturday afternoon and evening in anticipation of poor sailing conditions, but said service is expected to start early on Sunday to compensate.
Environment Canada has issued warnings for heavy rain and wind gusts up to 90 km/h that are expected to peak overnight for the east coast of Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland, Sunshine Coast and Fraser Valley.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2016