Power Loss

• BC Hydro Outage Map
• Fortis BC Outage Map
• Media Centre & Alerts
• EmergencyInfoBC
• Visit your local regional district or municipality’s website 
• DriveBC - Road conditions and events

• Get prepared for a power outage (gov.bc.ca) - Emergency plan download and power outage checklist 
• Your Health This Winter (HealthLink BC) - Preparation, emergency shelters, warming centres, and healthy living during winter

In the event of power loss, you may not be able to run your home’s heating/cooling system. If you are in a multi-unit building, you may experience a loss of ventilation. 

It will be important to ensure you are supplementing power, heat and cooking in safe ways that do not contribute to carbon monoxide or indoor air pollutants.

 *NOTE* be aware of the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning. Install CO alarms and don’t use a BBQ, gas-powered equipment, or power generators indoors or near windows and doors.

During power loss, water systems may experience loss of water treatment and system pressure, and this can pose a risk to the safety of the drinking water. 

View our drinking water page for information on sample results, advisories and private water systems. 

• If your water comes from a community water system, you see if your water system is on an advisory 
• If you are on your own water source (well, surface water) the following pages provides helpful information on making sure your water is safe to use:
  • Disinfecting Drinking Water (HealthLink BC)
  • Water Well Disinfection (gob.bc.ca) - How to disinfect your well with a simple chlorination method
  • Well water testing (HealthLink BC) - What to test for in your well water and how to get your well water tested
  • Labs available for testing drinking water (phsa.ca) - List of labs approved by the public health authority officer for drinking water microbiology testing
• Get information for drinking water operators
   

If your fridge and freezers were impacted by a power outage, they may not have maintained food at cold enough temperatures to prevent bacterial growth. 

• Food safety for Homeowners - Basic food safety information for homeowners, outlining what foods to discard and what foods may be kept
• Get information for food premises operators
• If your refrigerator or freezer is damaged and is not working (cannot maintain less than 4 degrees and is not cleanable), contact the insurance company about coverage as an eligible expense, and your band or local government about its safe disposal.  
• If your refrigerator or freezer was NOT damaged and continues to work, take additional steps to clean your refrigerator and freezer.

Power loss may not have any impact on your septic system. If you feel your septic system has been impacted by power outage is not operating as intended (household plumbing is slow to drain, smells or pooling on the field area, etc.) then you should contact an authorized person to assess your system to ensure it is safe for use. 

Visit Sewerage, Subdivisions & Healthier Industries to find more info on how to find an authorized person who can inspect and/or repair an onsite sewerage system, or to locate your on-Site sewage record.

• Signs of Stress (HealthLink BC)
• Crisis lines are available to listen and help at any time. You can contact: 
  • BC Mental Health Support Line, available 24 hours a day at 310-6789 (no area code)
  • KUU-US Indigenous Crisis Line at 1-800-588-8717

Any water systems in the Interior Region that experience disruption to regular operations, such as loss of treatment, loss of pressure, loss of power, loss of source or loss of system integrity should implement their emergency response procedures immediately. This includes issuing public notifications such as boil water notices, water quality advisories or do not use orders, as appropriate. 

Follow your emergency response plan.

• Prior to resuming normal operations, water suppliers should undertake remedial actions such as flushing, disinfection and resampling as required. Contact your environmental health officer (EHO) for support 
• Information for water suppliers impacted by emergency events - Procedures for returning to normal operations after an emergency event, including additional resources for homeowners and operators of facilities (Appendix A)

The following documents provide information that may assist food service operators address, remediate, and manage operations to ensure public health safety, during and after power loss events.

Operators should also refer to any procedures outlined in their food safety plans, prior to resuming normal operations.

Food Safety

• Power Outages at Food Facilities - Food safety considerations for operators after a power outage (e.g., following a flood/landslide event and power shutdown/evacuation)
• Contact your environmental health officer if you have any questions

Water Quality

• Drinking Water Public Notifications What Food Premises Operators Need To Know - General information on drinking water notifications and food preparation and service. Floods and landslides will often result in public water advisories
• If you are on a community water system, view any current water system notifications here
• If you are not served by a community water system, contact your environmental health officer (EHO) for information on water sampling, well disinfection and other steps to make sure your water is safe for use
  • Water Well Disinfection (gov.bc.ca) - How to disinfect your well with a simple chlorination method
  • Well water testing (HealthLink BC) - What to test for in your well water and how to get your well water tested
  • Labs available for testing drinking water (phsa.ca) - List of labs approved by Provincial Health Officer for drinking water microbiology testing

Waste Disposal

If your business has an on-site sewage disposal system, it may become unsafe to use if it is impacted directly by power outages. 

If you find your sewage system was at risk of being impacted by power outage or is not operating as intended (plumbing is slow to drain, smells or pooling on the field area, etc.) then you should contact an Authorized Person to assess your system to ensure it is safe for use. 

• Sewerage, Subdivisions & Healthier Industries provides information on how to find an authorized person who can inspect and/or repair an onsite sewerage system, or to locate your on-site sewage record

Community care facilities should understand the risks of carbon monoxide as well as risks to any food services, water safety and waste disposal. See the links below for more information. 

Follow your emergency response plan.

• Find information on the risk of Carbon Monoxide
• Find information on drinking water, food safety and waste disposal
• Contact Licensing Direct if you have questions for your Licensing Officer via telephone at: 1-877-980-5118 or via email at LicensingDirect@interiorhealth.ca 

Care for clients 

• Caring for seniors in long-term care in an emergency (HealthLink BC) - Preparing for and responding to hazards requires consideration of the needs of seniors, especially those in long-term care facilities