Windstorm power surge fries appliances in North Vancouver neighbourhood, residents say

A number of residents of North Vancouver's Pemberton Heights neighbourhood say they're outup tothousands of dollars after Monday's windstorm caused a power surge that destroyed appliances and electronics.

Those affected by the power surge say they heard a loud boom around 1 p.m. on the day of the storm.

Ines Diaz, the owner and operator of the neighbourhood's Corner Stone Bistro, said as soon as the bang went off, their power went down.

It wasn't until itwas restored the next day thatshe discovered many of her appliances and electronic devices were no longer working, including her Italian espresso machine, walk-in fridge, blendersand lights.

To add to the chaos, the day of the storm was her first day running the business.

"I have been paying around four or five grand now with the repairs and I still have to repair the ice machine," she said.

"I don't know how much it's going to be in the end."

Excess voltage

A power surge occurswhen significantly more voltage than usual is pushed through electrical wires. If a home doesn't have a power surge protector, that excess electricity can make its way to devices that are plugged into the electrical sockets and damage them.

In a statement, B.C. Hydro spokesperson Mora Scottsaid a transformer in the neighbourhood was damaged during the storm. She said they arestill investigating what happened, but that it was likely the result of falling trees or branches.

Damage from a power surge can be significant, according to experts.

"If you have appliances plugged in, electronics plugged in, they can now start to see more power than what they're capable of so that can cause them to malfunction, to short circuit in most cases, they do end up breaking," electrician Arshmeet Bewli told CBC News.

Bewli, who owns an electrical company, said surges may become more common as climate change leads to more natural disasters that result in damage to electrical infrastructure.

Hot tubs and WiFi routers broken

Other neighbourhood residentssaid theirfurnaces, hot tubs, WiFi routers, TVs and dishwashers had been fried.

Resident Janike Tryggvensson invited CBC News into her home to show the damage. She said shekeeps discovering new things that were broken by the surge her lights, dimmers, refrigerator, thermostats, boilerand microwave, so far.

"The biggest for us, I think, is our refrigerators and hopefully our insurance will help with that."

Tryggvensson said that the day after the storm, repair trucks lined her streetas neighbours dealt with the damage in their homes.

"The wind was absolutely crazy."

Protection from a surge

At the height of the storm, B.C. Hydro says 20,000 customers in North Vancouver were without power.

In her statement, Scott said"a handful" of customers from the area have reached out to them since the storm which shesaidwas the fourth most damaging in a decade.

"Our claims team is actively working with them," Scott said.

Bewli said homeowners can protect appliances and devices in a home by hooking a surge protector up to their electrical panel.

"It'll take on any excess power that's coming in, which, you know, can be harmful for your electronics, for your appliances in the home. And then it'll essentially break," the electrician said.

"So if you go into your garage one day after you've installed the surge protector and you see, 'Oh, hey, this thing's fried,' it's because it did its job and you would replace [it]."