Students stranded, thousands without power as ‘bomb cyclone’ hits B.C.’s coast

THE LATEST:

• Schoolchildren on Vancouver Island had to shelter in place, and Highway 4 has been closed near Port Alberni due to downed trees on Vancouver Island.
• Multiple ferry routes have been cancelled, and others are at risk of cancellation, to and from Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland due to high winds.
• At least five highways have been closed on Vancouver Island due to downed power lines, debris and fallen trees.
• More than 100,000 B.C. Hydro customers are without power on Vancouver Island, as wind gusts of up to 160 km/h were reported.
• Most highways in B.C. require vehicles to have winter tires or chains from Oct. 1 until April 30. Drivers can check DriveBC for the latest road conditions along their planned route.
• Short on power or need to preserve data? Read a low-bandwidth version of this story on CBC Lite.

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A “bomb cyclone” that brought wind gusts of up to 160 km/h to parts of the B.C. South Coast led to highway closures and power outages affecting thousands of people Tuesday night, and forced a group of school children on Vancouver Island to shelter in a school for hours.

As of 9:40 p.m. PT, more than 140,000 B.C. Hydro customers on Vancouver Island were without power and about 48,000 were without power in the Lower Mainland.

In a post to Facebook just before 4 p.m. PT, the Sooke School District says that downed power lines on Highway 14 cut off school bus routes. As a result, nine students had to shelter at another school in the region, according to a spokesperson.

The students from Port Renfrew, B.C., and the Pacheedaht First Nation were sheltering along with a bus driver. They were given a pizza dinner while they waited for the highway to reopen. In a post just before 10 p.m. PT, the school district confirmed that they had arrived home.

At around 8 p.m. PT, the weather station on Sartine Island — just off the coast of northern Vancouver Island — recorded wind gusts of 159 km/h.

Elsewhere, the Port Alberni Fire Department responded after a tree fell on a logging truck on Highway 4 near Port Alberni.

Fire Chief Mike Owens said in an email that the truck cab sustained considerable damage, but the driver was unhurt.

The Port Alberni RCMP said in a statement that multiple motor vehicle incidents have been reported on the stretch, which has been closed due to downed trees and high winds.

Officials are warning of more road closures, ferry cancellations and power outages as the storm system rolls in.

Wind warnings issued Monday evening cover the entirety of B.C.’s coast, with Environment Canada forecasting easterly wind speeds of 90 km/h, gusting up to 120 km/h, with the most severe winds expected heading into Tuesday night.

A cyclone is the term used when masses of warm and cool air collide to create spiralling winds, with forecasters saying the “bomb” portion of the name refers to a rapid pressure drop of over 24 millibars (the unit used to measure air pressure) in 24 hours.

The bomb cyclone, which formed in the Pacific Ocean 400 kilometres west of Tofino, B.C., could see a pressure drop of 60 millibars over a 24-hour stretch at the centre of the storm — which forecasters say is highly unusual for B.C. 

CBC science communicator Darius Mahdavi said computer modelling shows the storm’s central pressure could be comparable to that of a Category 3 or 4 hurricane. 

Mahdavi says U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration measurements are showing waves taller than 10 metres on the open ocean west of Vancouver Island, and waves are expected to grow considerably into Tuesday night.

Special weather statements were issued Tuesday for inland sections of B.C., covering much of the province except the southeast corner and far north, warning of a “significant fall storm.”

Highways closed

In a statement sent just after 8:20 p.m. PT, the province’s Transportation Ministry said that downed power lines and debris meant multiple highway closures on Vancouver Island

The closed highways included Highway 4 leading to and from Port Alberni, Highway 14 west of Sooke, Highway 18 at Hillcrest, Highway 28 from Gold River to Campbell River, and the Pacific Marine Circle Route.

“As soon as its safe to do so, maintenance contractors will begin clearing debris, and B.C. Hydro is prioritizing repairs to the many power outages across the island,” the ministry statement said.

DriveBC tweeted at around 7:40 p.m. PT Tuesday that drivers on the Stanley Park Causeway in Vancouver would likely see delays as the whipping wind brought down tree debris.

A CBC News reporter in the area had to be escorted out by park rangers as they closed the Stanley Park Loop, with smaller trees visibly downed in the area.

Ferries cancelled

Brian Proctor, an Environment Canada meteorologist, said the strong low-pressure system off the coast will also cause strong easterly outflow winds to rip through B.C.’s coastal valleys.

“We’re likely to see power outages. I wouldn’t be surprised to see B.C. Ferries having some shutdowns as well [Tuesday] through the afternoon, evening hours,” Proctor told CBC News on Monday.

B.C. Ferries has issued a travel advisory in anticipation of the storm, lasting through until Wednesday. Customers are being asked to check the ferry service’s website ahead of travel.

Several evening sailings between the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island were cancelled Tuesday. Sailings between Metro Vancouver and the Sunshine Coast and one between Sechelt and Powell River have also been cancelled. 

Evening sailings to and from Galiano Island in the Southern Gulf Islands, as well as several others to and from the Gulf Islands, have been cancelled.

Power outages

Armel Castellan, another meteorologist with the weather office, said the strong outflow winds from the Interior that will arrive on Tuesday afternoon are something officials hadn’t seen yet so far this season.

“When we talk about wind strength, we also need to talk about wind direction. And we consider that the first time we see a strong wind in a new direction as a time to be vigilant,” he said.

“Because the forests — or certainly the trees that line our power cables, transmission lines — are going to be tested in a new way.”

Kevin Aquino, a spokesperson for the utility, told CBC News that some crews were dispatched to more remote areas, including north Vancouver Island, ahead of the storm.

“These crews should be working overnight and well into the evening … to make sure that restoration and repair times are expedited,” he said Tuesday morning.

Rain, snow coming

Proctor says that the bomb cyclone will also bring some rain and snow at higher elevations to much of coastal B.C. — though the amounts wouldn’t be as much as an atmospheric river system that brought flash floods to the South Coast in October.

“If this flow is coming in 200 or 300 kilometres further to the east, we would be seeing tremendous impacts upon the inner South Coast and all of Vancouver Island,” Proctor said.

Mahdavi said higher elevations in some areas could get nearly a metre of snow by Wednesday night.

A hurricane is described as a cyclone with sustained wind speeds of at least 119 km/h, according to the  Canadian Hurricane Centre.

Tuesday’s storm is the second major windstorm to hit B.C.’s South Coast in a week, with one that hit on Nov. 12 causing tens of thousands of properties to lose power.

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