ThursdayB次元官网网址檚 storm that slammed Vancouver Island with strong winds and heavy rains left thousands of people on the West Shore without power and many are still waiting for it to come back on.
Langford Fire Chief Chris Aubrey said he hasnB次元官网网址檛 seen a day like that in B次元官网网址渟everal years.B次元官网网址�
Aubrey said the local dispatch centre processed more 170 emergency calls in a 10-hour period on Thursday, many of which were responses to downed power lines as well as trees and branches that fell on power lines.
In Langford alone, 17 emergency calls were made to the fire department which is much more than an average day of five or six calls.
Langford Fire also responded to an incident on Thursday where a tree fell on a vehicle with four occupants in it on Springhill Road. The four individuals did not need medical attention, according to Aubrey.
B次元官网网址淚t was a scary experience and weB次元官网网址檙e fortunate it wasnB次元官网网址檛 more serious than it was,B次元官网网址� Aubrey said.
As of Friday morning, the vehicle and tree still hadnB次元官网网址檛 been cleared.
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The Colwood Fire Department was also kept busy Thursday and responded to approximately 15 calls, as opposed to about two calls a day which is closer to their norm.
Both departments said there were moments Thursday where they were responding to multiple calls at the same time as well but teamwork and patience from community members helped them make sure people were safe.
On Friday morning, tree branches could be seen littered in West Shore neighbourhoods and the Royal Colwood Golf Course tweeted that it would be closed for the day for B次元官网网址渃leanup and a safety assessment.B次元官网网址�
As daylight has revealed the conditions of the course.
B次元官网网址� Royal Colwood (@RoyalColwoodGC)
The golf course will now be CLOSED for the day for cleanup and a safety assesment.
Massive amounts of debris and hangers in trees.
The tweet also noted there are B次元官网网址渕assive amounts of debris and hangers in trees.B次元官网网址� The golf course closed Thursday afternoon due to high winds and falling branches.
ON COURSE UPDATE:
B次元官网网址� Royal Colwood (@RoyalColwoodGC)
The Westhills YMCA-YWCA remains without power as of Friday afternoon and according to the website, is closed. Phones for all YMCA-YWCA facilities are also down.
According to the BC Hydro outage map, several areas on the West Shore are still without power as of Friday afternoon. An alert on BC HydroB次元官网网址檚 website says B次元官网网址渄ue to the extent of damage, many customers will be without power throughout the day and for some customers it could be a couple of days.B次元官网网址�
About 150 customers in Colwood were still experiencing outages as of Friday afternoon. In Langford, about 1,400 customers still didnB次元官网网址檛 have power and about 1,200 customers in Highlands are dealing with outages too, according to the map.
In the Metchosin and Sooke areas, there are about 535 affected customers and close to 300 in View Royal.
BC Hydro said B次元官网网址渁ll available crews will be working until the remaining customers are restored.B次元官网网址�
shalu.mehta@goldstreamgazette.com
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