By Dominic Abassi

Nanaimo dodges majority of outages as second storm pounds down

Oct 14, 2016 | 8:59 AM

NANAIMO – The Nanaimo area dodged the brunt of an overnight storm but it’s a different story on the west coast of Vancouver Island.  

BC Hydro reports that power is out in all of Tofino and has now been restored in Ucluelet after that community was left in the dark for several hours. There are also small pockets of outages in Port Alberni. Drive BC reports Highway 4 between Tofino and Ucluelet is closed in both directions due to fallen trees and is expected to reopen at 9 a.m.

At one point Thursday night and into early Friday there were more than 6,000 Hydro customers in the dark on the north island, including more than 2,000 in Parksville. That outage was repaired quickly however.

There have also been reports of water pooling on the highways and city roads around Nanaimo. To this point there have been no reports of substantial flooding of any kind.

A wind warning and special weather statement from Environment Canada remains in effect. The special weather statement is:

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East Vancouver Island

The second in a series of storms is currently over the South Coast. Heavy showers will continue with this storm but strong south or southeast winds are the main concern. Wind warnings have already been issued for many South Coast regions with the strongest winds this morning.

The third and potentially most powerful storm will approach the coast late Saturday. This low pressure system will be accompanied by very strong winds and heavy rainfall. Computer weather models are predicting a range of landfalls Saturday evening anywhere from northwestern Washington State to central Vancouver Island.

A worst-case windstorm scenario for the Inner South Coast would be a landfall along central or southern Vancouver Island. However, if the storm makes landfall and tracks over Washington State, the storm would not impact B.C. nearly as much. As details concerning the precise storm track become clearer, warnings will be issued for multiple regions throughout the next couple of days.