High winds, downed trees knock out power to thousands of customers in northern B.C., Vancouver Island

High winds are responsible for thousands of power outages across British Columbia's Central Interior and north Tuesday morning, following similar issues on Vancouver Island on Monday night.

As of 7:30 a.m. PT, more than 7,000 B.C. Hydro customers in the Central Interior and northeast B.C. were without electricity — with more than 6,500 of those customers concentrated in Prince George.

B.C. Hydro spokesperson Mike Kellett said wind gusts of nearly 60 km/h hit the region overnight, leading to multiple incidents of trees down across wires and downed power poles.

"It's a good time to remind folks that anytime you see a power line down it should be treated as an emergency," Kellett said.

"Call 911 immediately and keep your distance."

Power restored on Vancouver Island

Kellett said crews have been dispatched to try and restore the outages "as soon as humanly possible."

The wind hitting the northern part of the province is part of the same system that caused widespread outages on Vancouver Island on Monday night, knocking out power to more than 5,000 customers.

As of Tuesday morning, the majority of those outages had been restored.

Environment Canada is forecasting storms that could bring more outages and flooding to parts of Vancouver Island and B.C.'s South Coast this week.