Got to love those that under promise and over deliver.
Hats off to BC Hydro crews who braved horrendous conditions to restore power to 7,200 North Islanders (from Woss north) - two and a half hours ahead of schedule.
The North Island was without power for about 12 hours Monday after a bank on the Nimpkish River gave away, south of Woss, sending a large tree down across power lines, said spokesperson Karla Louwers.
Typically BC Hydro uses a helicopter to search out downed power lines in remote areas, however severe weather kept the aircraft grounded until 3 p.m.
Without eyes in the sky, said BC Hydro’s Ted Olynyk, two crews went out on foot to where they thought the fault had occurred “and they couldn’t find anything. The crew tried to bring the line back up and it wouldn’t go.” Olynyk said the crews couldn’t “find the issue where it was telling us it should be.”
At about 3 p.m. the weather conditions settled down enough for BC Hydro to get a helicopter in the air and crews were able to spot the problem, said Louwers.
Once they had the problem identified, BC Hydro had the power back up in about two hours.
The weather also put a damper on the Gazette’s production day, however the staff came in Monday evening to ensure everything go sent to press on time.