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Lightning strike puts the power out to over 7,800 homes in the Prince Rupert area

People in Prince Rupert and the north coast may have missed their alarm this morning after a power outage in the early hours of August 8.

People in Prince Rupert and the north coast may have missed their alarm this morning after a power outage in the early morning hours.

According to BC Hydro spokesperson Bob Gammer power went out to 7,844 customers on the north coast, including Prince Rupert, Port Edward and communities as far away as Oona River and Kitkatla, between 2:09 a.m. and 2:17 a.m. this morning.

"What happened was lightning hit the transmission line between Terrace and Prince Rupert and it knocked out power to everyone in the Prince Rupert area...It certainly is an unusual incident," he explained.

"We have reclosure equipment to get the power going again. In Terrace it started immediately, but on the Prince Rupert end we had to restart it remotely."