The 2015 South Coast blackout was a

power outage A power outage (also called a powercut, a power out, a power failure, a power blackout, a power loss, or a blackout) is the loss of the electrical power network supply to an end user. There are many causes of power failures in an electricit ...

that affected more than 710,000 residents living in the

Lower Mainland The Lower Mainland is a geographic and cultural region of the mainland coast of British Columbia that generally comprises the regional districts of Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley. Home to approximately 3.05million people as of the 2021 Canadia ...

and

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...

regions of the Canadian province of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. It was the largest blackout event in

BC Hydro The British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority, operating as BC Hydro, is a Canadian electric utility in the province of British Columbia. It is the main electricity distributor, serving more than 4 million customers in most areas, with the excep ...

history. The blackout was a result of

windstorm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm) ...

that hit the

South Coast South Coast is a name often given to coastal areas to the south of a geographical region or major metropolitan area. Geographical Australia *South Coast (New South Wales), the coast of New South Wales, Australia, south of Sydney * South Coast (Q ...

on August 29–30, 2015, which shut down a generator and wiped out a power grid in the Lower Mainland. The hardest hit areas were Abbotsford,

Coquitlam Coquitlam ( ) is a city in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Mainly suburban, Coquitlam is the List of cities in British Columbia, sixth-largest city in the province, with a population of 148,625 in 2021, and one of the 21 municipa ...

Langley Langley may refer to: People * Langley (surname), a common English surname, including a list of notable people with the name * Dawn Langley Simmons (1922–2000), English author and biographer * Elizabeth Langley (born 1933), Canadian perfor ...

Pitt Meadows Pitt Meadows is a municipality of Metro Vancouver in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Incorporated in 1914, it has a land area of and a population of 19,146 as of 2021. The municipality received its name from the Pitt River and Pitt Lake. ...

Port Coquitlam Port Coquitlam ( ) is a city in British Columbia, Canada. Located east of Vancouver, it is on the north bank of the confluence of the Fraser River and the Pitt River. Coquitlam borders it on the north, the Coquitlam River borders it on the west, ...

Port Moody Port Moody is a city in British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It envelops the east end of Burrard Inlet and is the smallest of the Tri-Cities, bordered by Coquitlam on the east and south a ...

and

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. The blackout lasted more than 72 hours for some neighbourhoods in these municipalities.

Blackout

The blackout began with a windstorm that knocked over trees and blew away branches sometime in the early morning of August 29, 2015. Later around noon, a generator blew out, with most of the electricity going out in neighbourhoods in Coquitlam, Port Moody, and Port Coquitlam, with certain buildings equipped with partial emergency lighting and businesses closing for the day as a result of the blackout. Reports also surfaced that people saw sparks blow up on cables in neighbourhoods. Wind speeds reached 90 to 100 km/h at the time of the blackout. People who were desperate of getting warm food either had to travel to nearby Burnaby to order, resulting in cramped lineups. The same also happened in select businesses in Port Coquitlam, with cramped lineups also occurring there. The next day,

stated that the power to the homes should resume by midnight August 31, 2015, but resumed 6 hours earlier than most expected. However, some local areas of BC took longer to regain power.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:South Coast blackout, 2015 Disasters in British Columbia 2015 in British Columbia 2015 disasters in Canada Greater Vancouver Power outages Electric power in Canada August 2015 events in Canada

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...