BC Hydro restores power to most customers in Fraser Valley
Utility's website says about only 47 customers still without electricity
BC Hydro is in the home stretch in its efforts to restore electricity to customers left in the dark because of intense ice storms that swept through the Fraser Valley last week.
The utility's website showed about 47 homes and businesses without power as of 9:45 p.m. PT on Tuesday, down from 650 earlier in the day, and down from a peak of more than 100,000 customers at the height of the outages.
BC Hydro says while repair crews have made steady progress restoring power, damaged lines had caused further outages in some parts of Mission and Abbotsford.
Hydro had said it expected all customers to be reconnected Tuesday "barring any unforeseen circumstances or significant new damage found."
Ice storms hammered parts of Langley, Abbotsford, Mission and Chilliwack on Thursday and Friday, snapping tree branches, downing power lines and leaving some BC Hydro substations frozen solid, with sensitive equipment encased in ice.
After days of frigid temperatures, Environment Canada is forecasting a high of up to 7 Celsius in the Fraser Valley by the end of the week.