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UPDATE: Power back on in Aldergrove after being pummeled by ice storms

Downed power lines forced two-day highway closure, residents left in the dark
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Two ice storms pounded Aldergrove, leading to downed power lines, the closure of a section of Fraser Highway and leaving many residents without power for up to 40 hours.

Fraser Highway between 248 Street and 260 Street was closed Saturday and Sunday while BC Hydro crews worked to repair fallen power lines and damaged substations in the wake of the two brutal winter ice storms.

The highway was originally expected to re-open by Saturday night, but repairs were running behind schedule and it remainedclosed.

By early Sunday afternoon, traffic was re-opened to a single alternating lane.

READ MORE: VIDEO: Fraser Highway closed through Langley

The ice storm cut power to 160,000 BC Hydro customers.

The majority of residents in Aldergrove had their power restored by Sunday evening, with the last remaining customers getting power back at 5 a.m. Tuesday, said Mora Scott of BC Hydro.

Some residents stayed in hotels, others said the temperature in their homes was measuring around eight to 10 degrees Celsius. Many rang in the New Year in the dark.

One resident quipped that Aldergrove should expect a baby boom nine months from now.

Other residents remarked that neighbours helped neighbours, those with power helping those who didn’t.

BC Hydro said it had around 90 crews working in the Fraser Valley area, some brought in from Vancouver Island and the interior.

Crews were working in “challenging and hazardous conditions” to repair extensive damage that includes frozen equipment,broken poles and downed lines, Hydro said.

For more information about outages in your area, visit bchydro.com/safety-outages.html.

– Files from Dan Ferguson Langley Times



Monique Tamminga

About the Author: Monique Tamminga

Monique brings 20 years of award-winning journalism experience to the role of editor at the Penticton Western News. Of those years, 17 were spent working as a senior reporter and acting editor with the Langley Advance Times.
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