with weaken tree systems when the wind starts blowing there is an increased chance that trees and vegetation could come down into power lines or other electrical infrastructure uh causing outages a message from BC Hydro that after a hot and dry summer trees are damaged across the province and customers should expect more power outages this fall I'm not happy about it but I can understand that it is possible that a winter storm or a fall storm could knock trees down as they're stressed so you can tell that a lot of them are John Richardson an expert in forest and conservation Sciences says many of the trees in BC haven't been getting enough water during one of the driest Summers on record and because of the drought they dry up and become Fragile the trees operate by drawing water up almost like a a straw um and these are very very tiny little straws but they have to draw water all the way from the ground right up to where the leaves are and if it doesn't work they end up with little um air pockets in those those straws and then it weakens BC hydro's meteorologists are warning of what they call elevated risk of significant power disruption in the event of a windstorm this fall and that crews are ramping up for storms to come trees in adverse weather are the number one cause of power outages in BC we have a lot of trees in this province more than most utilities per kilometer of power line I mean it's fair that climate change um impacts us all I think so I think it's only fair to kind of expect that however obviously power is a thing we cannot live without BC Hydro says Crews have had to replace more than 1400 power poles and close to 90 km of power line since May largely because of wildfires The Roots have probably been broken um burnt up but the soils themselves have also been weakened and um and so we end up with a lot more erosion which and if you start getting erosion on especially on sort of steep Landscapes um those trees are going to just come down with it as well to prepare BC Hydro says it's working on its vegetation Management program which includes inspecting trees and other plants near buildings they're urging British Colombians to have an emergency kit handy in case of an outage that could last 72 hours with flashlights batteries non-p perishable foods water and medication in Vancouver Kate Walker City news