It could be New Year's Eve before power is restored to all of BC

As crews work around the clock to restore power after last week’s wind storm, BC Hydro says it could still be many days before all British Columbians have their lights back on.

At the height of the storm, over 700,000 customers were left in the dark.  BC Hydro says it’s one of the “most severe windstorms it has experienced in 20 years.”

Although 99 per cent of customers have had power restored, around 7,000 remain without power on Vancouver Island and the Southern Gulf Islands.

BC Hydro says all of Vancouver Island is expected to be restored by December 27.  However, it expects the Gulf Islands will have power restored between December 27 and 31st.

“Due to the extensive damage on many of the southern Gulf Islands, restoration will take longer as some parts of the distribution system must be completely rebuilt,” a hydro spokesperson wrote.

One of the hardest hit regions in the windstorm was Pender Island, where power to virtually the whole island was knocked out.

@simonplittle on Pender Island all the gas is now sold out. The grocery store opened for a few hours today but there was limited food available and lineups. @bchydro crews haven’t started restoring power yet.

— Christine Tam (@christinetam) December 22, 2018

More than 900 field staff are working to repair the damage, including crews brought in from Alberta and the East Coast.

Click here for a list of outages and estimated restoration times.

Photos from the storm on Pender Island. No power, gas station sold out, limited groceries and ferries off island cancelled. Help @bchydro @simonplittle @CTVVancouver @CBCVancouver @GlobalBC @jjhorgan @bcferries pic.twitter.com/FhecKoYDUv

— Christine Tam (@christinetam) December 23, 2018