Power likely out until Wednesday in Winnipeg area hit hardest by Sunday storm
Firefighters are checking on people who've been without power for days and a reception centre has been set up at a River Heights community centre to help people impacted by a storm that caused major damage in Winnipeg on Sunday.
About 1,500 Manitoba Hydro customers in Winnipeg were still without power on Tuesday, and some won't get it back until Wednesday afternoon, Manitoba Hydro spokesperson Peter Chura said.
"The scale of this damage, the severity of the damage in such a confined area is creating access issues," he said at a news conference on Tuesday with Mayor Scott Gillingham and Jason Shaw, deputy chief of emergency management for the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service.
"It's making it very challenging for crews to get the work done."
The River Heights and Westwood areas were hit hard by winds that reached 83 km/h, preliminary figures from Environment and Climate Change Canada said.
Trees were downed, and the strong winds caused a car to roll onto a lawn at one River Heights home. About 7,000 customers had no power on Sunday evening, Chura said Tuesday.
Westwood outages were restored Monday evening, but parts of River Heights are still without power because of the extent of the damage, which requires tree removal before damaged power lines and poles can be replaced, Manitoba Hydro said.
The reception centre at Corydon Community Centre's River Heights site, at 1370 Grosvenor Ave., has cellphone charging stations, free Wi-Fi, bottled water and snacks, and emergency mental health supports, the city said in a news release on Tuesday.
Manitoba Hydro spokesperson Peter Chura speaks while Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham looks on at a news conference Tuesday. The scale of the storm damage in such a confined area is making work 'very challenging for crews,' Chura says. (Jeff Stapleton/CBC)
Firefighters are going door to door in the areas with the worst damage, Shaw said. They're wearing Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service uniforms and have photo ID.
The power outage will approach 72 hours for the hardest-hit area, Shaw said.
The fire-paramedic service will work with Western University's Northern Tornadoes Project to determine what kind of winds caused the damage, he said.
Such storms seem to be coming more frequently, Shaw said, mentioning a tornado that touched down in Whyte Ridge earlier this year.
"It's sort of a new reality for our city to see these summer storms be so severe," he said.
"We're hoping that we can continue to educate people to stay prepared and to be prepared for 72 hours or longer in cases like this."
A vehicle is buried in debris on Monday morning after a storm caused major damage in parts of Winnipeg on Sunday evening. (Prabhjot Singh Lotey/CBC)
Since Saturday, Winnipeg's 311 service has received reports of 87 fallen, damaged or hazardous trees, 62 sewer backups involving raw sewage, 62 flooded catch basins, 29 sewer backups involving clean water, 12 malfunctioning traffic signals and two flooded basements, Gillingham said.
Chura said a narrow back lane in southwest River Heights is a particular problem. There are five damaged hydro poles, but crews are struggling to get heavy equipment into the confined space.
"It's a challenge to get enough heavy equipment in there to support all of those poles, to take the tension off the lines so that the work can safely get done," he said.
People are even having difficulty getting to their homes to check on pets, Shaw said.
People should stay at least 10 metres away from downed power lines and anything the power lines touch, and give crews room to work safely, Manitoba Hydro said.
Anyone using a fuel-powered generator or cooking device should not use it in an enclosed area to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.
People with damaged electrical components on their property should have them fixed by a licensed electrician so power can be safely restored.
Thumbnail courtesy of Prabhjot Singh Lotey/CBC.
The story was originally written by Lara Schroeder and published for CBC News.