A winter storm headed toward the Canadian province of British Columbia is headed in a very different direction than many winter storms — from the west.
Canada’s weather service issued a red alert for the Cariboo region on Monday for snow and wind.
In the Abbotsford area, trees were leaning on power lines as trees were taken down by strong winds. Some power lines were damaged by high winds, causing disruptions to power, power companies told the media.
Monty Barkas with Emergency Management BC called the current storm the worst winter storm since November 2013.
“We know that there’s a lot of damage that’s taking place up here … it could be a long recovery period. It could happen tomorrow but it could take many days for people to recover and restore power,” Barkas said.
The storm is also affecting residents’ ability to get in and out of their homes as some schools have canceled classes. That was expected to be extended to the rest of the province as it moved south and southwesterly.
Barkas said several highways were closed or impassable due to the storm and others had minor damage.
“If we get the snow down to one to one and a half meters, it’s going to be a real challenge. We don’t have any snow plows out. I can’t imagine at this point that anyone in the entire province is going to be able to plow their way out.”
(Reporting by Herbert Lash; Editing by Paul Simao)