Winds cut power for 200,000 on Canada's West Coast

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Some 200,000 residents of southwestern British Columbia on Canada's West Coast were without power Monday after gale-force winds downed power lines and caused ferry crossings and flights to be canceled.

Thousands of holiday-makers were stranded when ferry trips between the mainland and Vancouver Island and other small islands off Canada's Pacific Coast were halted on the Remembrance Day holiday because of winds gusting up to 90 kilometers per hour (56 miles per hour).

By early afternoon, winds had died down and some ferry crossings resumed.

A spokeswoman for Vancouver International Airport said a handful of short-haul flights to towns in British Columbia had been canceled or delayed until winds subsided.

A spokeswoman for power utility BC Hydro said electricity to homes and businesses in the Lower Mainland and on Vancouver Island should resume by this evening unless another round of strong winds hits.

Environment Canada forecast winds of 60 km/h, diminishing to half that around midnight.

Major storms pounded the coastal Pacific Northwest just short of a year ago, leaving at least 14 people dead and nearly 2 million homes and businesses without power in British Columbia, Washington and Oregon.

(Reporting by Nicole Mordant; Editing by Peter Galloway)