Heavy weather knocked out power to thousands of Manitoba Hydro customers Friday night and crews continued working to restore electricity Saturday morning.
Storms brought lightning and strong winds to parts of southern Manitoba and there’s a chance of more severe weather on Saturday.
The most severe damage was in the Westman area, a Manitoba Hydro spokesperson said. Crews were working to repair three broken poles; numerous trees fell onto power lines; and in one situation there was a downed line.
The storm brought down a grain auger in Killarney, Man. Friday night. (Source: Tristan Heide)
Around 4,600 customers in Pelican Lake, Ninette, Killarney, Rock Lake,
Boissevain, Baldur, Cartwright, and Pilot Mound were without power. Most customers had their power restored two hours later, but some customers remained without power Saturday morning.
“Because of night, because of the extent of damage, and the ability for us to access areas. Part of finding out where things are going wrong requires our crews to see and patrol lines to see where damage is,” said Bruce Owen, spokesperson for Manitoba Hydro.
An Environment Canada meteorologist said a line of thunderstorms in the area brought strong straightline winds, with one private weather station near Boissevain recording a gust 114 kilometres per hour.
The storm also brought down a tree in Holmfield, Man. (Source: Grant Boden)
Also Friday evening, lightning led to power outages for more than 250 customers in the Hartney area.
Saturday morning, about 1,400 customers in St. Vital, mostly in the areas of Kingston Row and Fermor Road, lost power. They were restored around 9 a.m.
Damage caused by the storm and the possibility of more severe weather could hamper cleanup efforts, Owen said. In Winnipeg, there’s a chance of thunderstorms Saturday afternoon, and winds gusting between 30 and 50 kilometres per hour.
“To get to an area, if there’s downed trees blocking a road, we have to move the trees to get to a problem area,” he said. “Our crews are very busy. We can’t work in heavy weather. We appreciate our customers’ patience and understand their frustration. We’re getting to it as quickly as we can safely do.”
One way customers can help is by reporting outages online and from their phones. These reports are automatically added to Hydro’s dispatch system.
