Flooding and downed power lines left more than 600 West Quesnel residents and businesses without power for much of the day Thursday, April 23.
B.C. Hydro, the Quesnel Fire Department and RCMP were on scene at Lewis Drive and Hill Street, just north of Anderson Drive, in the late morning and early afternoon, working to safely secure the area as flooding in Baker Creek caused trees along its banks to fall, downing powerlines into the creek itself.
As more downed trees continued to flow down the creek into the area of the incident and became entangled with the downed lines, the tension pulled down another powerline on Lewis Drive.
Residents watched as crews worked to pull the downed trees out of Baker Creek and cut Hydro lines to clear the debris in the creek.
As of 4:15 p.m., 186 B.C. Hydro customers north of Abbott Drive, southwest of Baker Drive and east of Flamingo Street are still without power. The power has been out since 10:57 a.m., and B.C. Hydro estimates it will come back on Friday, April 24 at 12:30 a.m.
Earlier in the day, 435 B.C. Hydro customers southwest of Fraser Drive, East of Lewis Drive and north of Doherty Drive were also without power.
The West Park Mall was also affected by the power outages.
“Crews are currently on site assessing the damage,” B.C. Hydro states on its website. “Please continue to check back for the latest info as it becomes available. Thank you for your patience.”
READ MORE: BC Hydro offers three-month bill ‘holiday’ for those affected by COVID-19
editor@quesnelobserver.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter