A massive storm brought gusts of heavy rain, wind and strong thunder and lightning
On Friday, August 23, a powerful storm swept through interior British Columbia, bringing gusts of heavy rain, wind, and intense thunder and lightning.
While any rainfall is welcome in another year of drought and wildfires, the storm wreaked havoc along Highway 5 in the North Thompson Valley. Fallen trees tore down power lines, causing lengthy power outages in the Little Fort, Clearwater, Chu Chua and Dunn Lake areas.
BC Hydro crews worked through the night and are on site throughout North Thompson to repair damage and restore power. BC Hydro’s website lists the main causes of the outages as lightning strikes, trees falling on lines and downed wires.
Officials in North Thompson praise the hard work of hydro crews who were tasked with the restoration effort despite difficult storm conditions.
“While elected officials will consult with a BC Hydro liaison to discuss future improvements, I want to thank the crews for their hard work in potentially dangerous situations and adverse weather,” said Usoff Tsao, Area “A” Director of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD).
“I am confident that future major projects in the valley will provide the opportunity to integrate a ring system to improve grid stability.”
A power outage in Clearwater County that was supposed to last six hours to allow repairs to a damaged transmission line ended up lasting 20 hours. Clearwater Mayor Merlin Blackwell was not impressed. The unexpectedly long power outage caused the water level in the county’s water supply reservoir to drop to a critical level that the electric pumps could no longer handle.
“We have emergency generators that appear to be stuck at customs,” Blackwell said. “They were supposed to get here in June, but they were delayed. We now have a boil water advisory in place because our water supplies need to be replenished.” The water will continue to be tested until it is released by Interior Health.
Blackwell believes BC Hydro needs to communicate sooner and better in the future. “If we get good information, we can go a long way with the reservoirs. What was missing was the delay in notification that this outage would last longer than six hours and the fact that our generators weren’t there yet. Both of these would have gotten us through the outage with no problem.”
Barriere Mayor Ward Stamer believes the problems with the recent power outages in Clearwater, the Simpcw First Nation village of Chu Chua and near Dunn Lake point to “deficiencies in BC Hydro’s infrastructure” and that they have noticed that the facilities and access to those facilities are deteriorating.
“Twenty hours without power and the cause is a faulty pole or tower. That’s entirely on BC Hydro,” said Stamer. “When the weather impacts power, that’s one thing, as we saw Friday night with unusual winds and several trees on power lines.”
“It is entirely preventable if it is an equipment defect that was not detected or, worse, if due to poor management, the decision was made not to repair or replace the equipment. In any case, emergency power is necessary to protect critical infrastructure.”
Stamer noted that Barriere has backup power sources for water, sewer and emergency services in case of unexpected or prolonged outages.
“It appears that these outages are becoming more frequent, and BC Hydro appears unwilling to share critical infrastructure information when it comes to the needs of the North Thompson Valley, now and in the future.”
Jill Hayward, TNRD director for Area “O” in the Lower Thompson, is thankful after Friday’s storm.
“People in the North Thompson Valley have been hoping for good rain for months. I don’t think we expected as much rain as we got Friday night, but it was definitely good rain!
“A huge thank you to all of our first responders, firefighters and valley residents who braved the weather to put out fires caused by lightning strikes, clear branches and trees from the streets and make sure their neighbours were OK. Thanks also to the guys from BC Hydro who were on the scene within hours and are still trying to clean up the mess.”
BC Hydro’s website asks customers to be prepared for power outages and emergencies that can occur at any time. It also advises residents to never touch a downed power line, stay at least 10 metres (the length of a city bus) away from a downed line and call 9-1-1.
