South Vancouver Island is getting battered by a third storm fuelled by the remains of typhoon Songda on Saturday.
Environment Canada has issued warnings for heavy rain and wind gusts up to 100 km per hour intensifying into the evening for the east coast of Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland, Sunshine Coast and Fraser Valley.
As of 5:30 pm, wind gust have picked up on the southern tip of Vancouver Island.
CTV Vancouver Island meteorologist Astrid Braunschmidt says the worst of the storm is expected to hit after the sun goes down.
“We are expected the winds and the rains to ramp up any time after supper time. This will be one of the dark and windy nights on the west coast so we need to be prepared.”
BC Ferries has cancelled all its major sailings from Vancouver Island and the mainland. The last sailing to leave Swartz Bay was at 1:00p.m. The M.V. Klitsa travelling between Brentwood Bay and Mill Bay has been held at dock due the adverse weather conditions.
Harbour Air and Flights from Victoria International Airport have also seen delays and cancellations.
BC Hydro continues to get calls and is working to restore power to a number of customers in the southern Vancouver Island.
“We have staggered crews and we have done a lot pre-deployment on the Gulf Islands,” says BC Hydro spokesperson Ted Olynyk. “We have also brought in extra crews from the interior.”
The city of Victoria is restricting access to three parks due to the wind storm as of 5:00p.m. on Saturday. The areas include Ross Bay Cemetery, Beacon Hill Park and Banfield Park as these areas have large trees/branches that could present a hazard in high winds.
Esquimalt closed three of its parks as well. The township said Highrock Park, Saxe Point Park and Rockcrest Park will be reassessed on Monday and a decision to re-open will be made at that time.
C-FAX1070 will continue to update this page throughout the evening with updates as they come along.