Winter storm causes travel disruptions, outages on Vancouver Island

The second winter storm in a week has led to ferry and flight cancellations, travel delays and power outages on Vancouver Island.

A freezing rain and winter storm weather warning for Greater Victoria, inland and west Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast was issued on Friday by Environment Canada. Freezing rain could persist in interior sections of the island into Saturday morning.

Most flights at Victoria International Airport were cancelled or delayed on Friday. The airport authority advised passengers to check with their airline for latest flight information.

B.C. Ferries cancelled a number of sailings Friday morning, including ones connecting Metro Vancouver to Victoria, Nanaimo, the Sunshine Coast and the Southern Gulf Islands.

"BC Ferries actually gave me a phone call last night to tell me the sailing was cancelled, which I did not expect," said passenger Bernard Von Schulmann, about his 9 a.m. sailing.

The ferry operator announced potential sailing cancellations Friday evening for the Queen of Cumberland connecting Victoria and Southern Gulf Islands as the company has been unsuccessful in securing the required number of staff to operate the vessel.

The company added more than 150 extra sailings between Thursday and Jan. 2 to manage the busy holiday season, with more than 100 of those sailings connecting Vancouver and Victoria. However, there's a strong possibility of cancellations on all routes until Dec. 24 due to winter weather. Poor road conditions leading to the terminals are also expected to impact operations.

A number of sailings were cancelled Wednesday and Thursday due to burst pipes and frozen equipment.

Passengers are advised to check the B.C. Ferries website for the latest updates before heading to the terminals.

Meanwhile, more than 5,000 B.C. Hydro customers on Vancouver Island had lost power as of 12 p.m. PT, amid strong winds of up to 90 km/h.

Crews are repairing a transmission line that provides power to customers in Tofino, Ucluelet, and Ahousaht. It was damaged by downed trees, B.C. Hydro said in a statement.

B.C. Transit suspended bus services for all routes in the Victoria Regional Transit system Friday morning.

Some routes have resumed limited service but are not operating on schedule. The transit authority has encouraged travellers to check its website for updates on all operating routes.