Over 25,000 BC Hydro customers are without power Tuesday afternoon, the result of a strong wind storm moving through the region. Trees across wires, such as this one on Departure Bay Rd. in Nanaimo, were a cause of many outages. (Image Credit: Jade Coral)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

strong winds

Wind storm knocks power out for thousands in Nanaimo & Oceanside

Mar 24, 2026 | 4:20 PM

NANAIMO — A strong windstorm has cut thousands of residents across the mid-Island off the grid.

BC Hydro reports around 40,000 customers on central and northern Vancouver Island were without electricity as of 5 p.m. on Tuesday, March 24, largely due to wind storms impacting wires and trees nearby.

The largest outage in the region encompassed the northern areas of Parksville and French Creek, where just over 3,000 properties were without power.

A further 2,700 homes and businesses were in the dark in Qualicum Beach.

BC Hydro’s outage map for the Oceanside area at around 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday. (Image Credit: BC Hydro)

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Nanaimo-area residents impacted by the storm include an outage in the Departure Bay and Stephenson Point areas due to downed power lines, affecting around 2,200 customers.

An outage in the South Wellington/Cedar/Duke Point area is impacting nearly 400 properties.

Properties in Nanoose Bay, Yellow Point, and Gabriola Island were also in the dark.

Many of the outages remain “under investigation” by the utility, however others have been updated to be caused by either trees across wires or the windstorm in general.

Crews are being assigned on a priority basis, with a complete list of current outages available here.

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