Environment Canada issues wind, rain and snow warnings in B.C. [Video]

More than 150,000 households and businesses in British Columbia were without electricity Monday as high winds and heavy rains downed power lines and prompted storm warnings across the province.

Environment Canada said wind speeds of up to 110 km/h were expected over parts of Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii, while the Lower Mainland and Interior regions were bracing for winds of up to 100 km/h throughout the day.

More than 117,000 BC Hydro customers in the Lower Mainland and the Sunshine Coast regions were without electricity into the afternoon, while outages continued to affect about 32,000 customers on Vancouver Island, down from 46,000 earlier in the day.

“BC Hydro has been carefully planning for this storm and has all available BC Hydro crews and contractor crews responding,” the power provider said in a statement.

“After a multi-year drought, vegetation has been weakened across the province, making it more susceptible to …