VANCOUVER — Hydro crews on British Columbia's south coast have restored power to thousands more customers who have been in the dark since last Thursday's powerful wind storm, but many more remain without electricity.
BC Hydro says about 4,000 customers still have no lights, down from roughly 7,000 customers early on Boxing Day.
The latest update from BC Hydro says the vast majority of customers still affected on Vancouver Island, along with approximately 300 residents of Penelakut Island, just east of Ladysmith, can expect to have power restored by Thursday night.
More than 30 crews continue to work around the clock to resolve outages on other hard-hit Gulf Islands, and BC Hydro says electricity should be on between Friday and Sunday.
But the Crown utility warns it could be New Year's Eve before some small pockets have heat and light again.
Winds topping 100 km/h hammered southern B.C. on Dec. 20, knocking out electricity to more than 700,000 customers, damaging hundreds of power lines and transformers, and leaving roads covered by trees and debris.