Strong winds have left more than 100,000 British Columbians without power Wednesday morning, and Vernon is one of the hardest-hit areas, according to BC Hydro.

The company said a windstorm sweeping across the province caused trees and branches to break, causing extensive damage to its electrical system.

Lake Country and Fernie were also hit hard by the storm, BC Hydro said.

According to the company’s website, by 8 a.m. Monday morning, power had been restored to approximately 40,000 people in the Okanagan/Kootenay and Thompson/Shuswap regions.

However, nearly 30,000 people in those regions were still without electricity.

“More outages are expected as a result of the wind,” BC Hydro said in a notice on its website.

“All available resources will continue to work throughout the day to safely restore power.”

The company said it’s receiving reports of downed power lines and reminded people to stay at least 10 metres back and call 911 immediately.