VANCOUVER — Police say a person is trapped on a pier in White Rock, B.C., after part of the structure collapsed in strong winds. RCMP Const. Chantal Sears says a rescue team has been sent out.
Parts of southern British Columbia were hit by a powerful wind storm today that left thousands of BC Hydro customers without power on Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland and the Sunshine Coast.
BC Hydro says about 100,000 customers didn't have electricity on Vancouver Island shortly after midday, while the lights were out for almost 130,000 in the Lower Mainland and Sunshine Coast.
VIDEO: At least one person is stranded, as a section of the White Rock Pier has been destroyed as a result of this afternoon’s windstorm.
— NEWS 1130 (@NEWS1130) December 20, 2018
STORY: https://t.co/JWfwtqec0b pic.twitter.com/F8jmBjbH3X
White Rock BC pier has broken apart pic.twitter.com/PEdMF7tq5V
— Wade Carpenter (@fingers777) December 20, 2018
Environment Canada issued a wind warning for those areas saying a powerful low pressure system was sweeping into the B.C. coast, bringing winds in the range of 70 to 90 km/h with gusts up to 100 km/h.
The winds also prompted cancellations or delays at BC Ferries for sailings between Nanaimo and Horseshoe Bay, Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay, Tsawwassen to Duke Point and Tsawwassen to the Southern Gulf Islands.
Rainfall warnings were posted for Howe Sound, the Fraser Valley and Fraser Canyon, with Environment Canada saying 50 millimetres could drench those regions by Friday.
Snowfall or winter storm warnings were also up for mountain passes to and from the Interior with Environment Canada advising of rapidly accumulating snow on sections of a number of highways including the Sea-to-Sky, Coquihalla, Highway 3 and Highway 1 between Eagle Pass and Rogers Pass.
