Environment Canada warns of potential coastal flooding as big waves, strong winds hit B.C. coast

Weather alerts were issued for much of B.C.'s coast on Wednesday, warning of potential ocean waves reaching up to seven metres.

As of 8 p.m. Wednesday, wind warnings continue to be in effect for the Central Coast, Greater Victoria, the Sunshine Coast and northern Vancouver Island. A rainfall warning has been issued for Haida Gwaii, where residents could see up to 60 millimetres of rain on Wednesday. 

On the west coast of Vancouver Island, Environment Canada said earlier Wednesday that waves, which could reach a maximum of five to seven metres tall, are expected along shorelines exposed to open ocean.

Wind gusts of up to 90 km/h were forecast Wednesday night into Thursday evening in some exposed coastal areas.

Environment Canada says large waves, storm surge, and seasonably high tides may produce the high water levels, and coastal flooding is possible along exposed shorelines, especially in low-lying areas.

The City of Vancouver said Wednesday morning's king tide resulted in localized flooding around Kitsilano Beach.

"Staff, including Park Rangers, will closely monitor changing weather patterns and will close sections of the seawall as necessary to help keep the public safe from surging tides and overhead hazards," the Vancouver Park Board said in an emailed statement to CBC. 

Some ferries cancelled

B.C. Ferries said earlier Wednesday that it was closely monitoring the weather, but was not expecting major routes between Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island to be impacted. The company tweeted around 4:45 p.m. that some routes were facing delays due to high traffic and mechanical issues.

It said service interruptions may occur for Northern Gulf Islands routes due to high winds forecast north of Nanaimo. The ferry running between Comox and Powell River was cancelled Wednesday evening with further cancellations on Thursday morning for routes between Texada Island and Powell River.

Routes to and from Quadra Island were also cancelled Wednesday evening.

Anyone travelling by ferry over the holidays is advised to check current conditions and service notices on the B.C. Ferries website. 

As of 8 p.m. Wednesday, B.C. Hydro's website says that power has mostly been restored to thousands of customers on Vancouver Island following a Christmas Day storm that caused outages for some 28,000 customers.

However, around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, more than 5,000 customers — mostly in the Sunshine Coast — lost power as wind battered the region.

B.C. Hydro spokesperson Mora Scott urged anyone who comes across a downed power line to stay 10 metres back and call 911. 

"We have ramped up crews on the island and have added additional contractor crews where we think we could need them the most," she said of the utility's storm preparations.