A downed communications line has been repaired, restoring phone and internet access including 911 services to Gabriola Island. (submitted photo/Tyler Gray)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

restoration of service

Phone & internet service returns to Gabriola Island after nearly a week of disruptions, power issues persist

Dec 5, 2022 | 10:03 AM

GABRIOLA ISLAND — Life is beginning to return to normal for roughly 4,000 people after nearly a week without basic communications services on Gabriola Island.

Crews from TELUS successfully re-established service to Gabriola Island on the evening of Sunday, Dec. 4 after a vital communications line was severed during a winter storm last week.

Will Sprogis, Gabriola Volunteer Fire Department chief, told NanaimoNewsNOW a helicopter was used Sunday to help reconnect phone and internet services.

“It sounds like they were able to source a communications wire, a proper fibre optic cable, so the splicing that was taken on last night, 144 connections on either side, went as planned and I think we’re fully restored with the proper fix.”

A Monday, Dec. 5 update from TELUS said “service has been restored to a majority of customers, with repair efforts continuing for the remaining impacted services.”

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The news, however, is not all good.

In conducting repairs around a shared use utility pole, damage to BC Hydro infrastructure likely stemming from the same incident which cut the communications line was discovered.

A notice from BC Hydro Sunday evening, echoed by Gabriola Fire Department and the Regional District of Nanaimo asked residents to conserve as much power as they could.

It asked all non-essential uses be turned off to minimalize the load on the power grid and help more people get essential access.

A warming centre for residents was set up Sunday night for a few hours, and is open again at the Gabriola Fellowship Church on Church St. from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Sprogis said it’s not clear how long the warming centre will need to be open, and will depend on how efficient Hydro crews are at making repairs.

“They’re here in full strength, they’ve got lots of trucks here I’ve seen, they’re around the Island for sure. It’s just a question of whether they need to use a helicopter just like they did with the communications line to get that up, or if they can just pull in another wire without turning the power off.”

Rolling power outages occurred Sunday evening and are slated to continue into Monday.

Updates on any other power issues will be posted on the BC Hydro website.

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