B.C. Hydro crews worked through the night to restore power to thousands of homes that have been in the dark across the province since last week's storms.

Last week's storms caused widespead damage across B.C.'s South Coast.
(CBC)

At the peak of the blackout, about 250,000 homes and businesses were without power.

Hydro spokeswoman Elisha Moreno says there are still 5,200 customers waiting for light in the Victoria area, and another 3,000 homes lost their power Tuesday night in Dawson Creek and Chetwynd in northeastern B.C.

She said crews have been hard at work restoring power in Sooke, west of Victoria, which had road access cut off by last Friday's massive windstorm.

Power in Sooke isn't expected to be fully restored until Wednesday.

The small Vancouver Island community of Sooke was especially hard hit.
(CBC)

There are also many homes in the community that remain unlivable. Sooke Mayor Janet Evans says 600 people used the local emergency reception centre over the weekend. 

Hydro finally got repair trucks into the remote Vancouver Island community of Bamfield on Monday. The tiny village has been without power for more than a week.

The 10 trucks were taken in by barge from Port Alberni.

Pat Byers, who owns the general store in West Bamfield, told CBC News there are big trees down everywhere, power lines toppled and houses crushed.

Bamfield has been without power for eight days. It's the tenth outage this fall.

There's also a boil water advisory in effect. But with no electricity, some people have no way to boil anything, said Byers.

B.C. Hydro hopes to have power restored in Bamfield by Wednesday.

Meanwhile, another major weather challenge is expected in southwestern B.C., with more wind in the forecast for Wednesday afternoon.