B.C. highway set to reopen following landslide during potent storm

A robust storm that swept across the B.C. South Coast Friday night and Saturday brought damaging winds that resulted in peak power outages that exceeded 200,000 customers, and led to a landslide that closed down a part of Highway 99.

The landslide led to the closure of a section of Highway 99 on Saturday, at Brunswick Beach near Lions Bay, and a six-hour detour around it. However, that part of the Sea to Sky Highway is expected to reopen by 9 a.m. PST on Sunday.

As the debris cleanup on parts of Highway 99 continues Sunday, BC Hydro officials are still working on power restoration efforts.

Damaging wind gusts from Saturday’s storm brought down hydro poles and uprooted trees, leading to a rapidly escalation of electricity outages on the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.

During the height of the storm, roughly 240,000 BC Hydro customers were without power in the Lower Mainland and Sunshine Coast. Vancouver Island, northern and southern sections combined, had just under 20,000 customers in the dark.

As of early Sunday morning, there are approximately 5,000 customers still without power, according to B.C. Hydro.

Some of the strongest, peak wind gusts during the storm were as follows, according to a preliminary summary released by Environment and Climate Change Canada as of 8 p.m. PST on Saturday, Dec. 14.

• Solander: 117 km/h

• Saturna Island: 115 km/h

• Sisters Island: 100 km/h

• Sand Heads 100 km/h

• Kelp Reef: 100 km/h

B.C. will see another system through Sunday and Monday, but it is expected to be less impactful than the weekend storm.

Watch the video preceding the article for the full story on the reopening of the highway.

With files from Rhythm Reet, a meteorologist at The Weather Network.

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