Several hydro lines and transformers caught fire around Winnipeg during Saturday’s severe thunderstorm, leaving thousands of homes in the dark.
"When all of a sudden there was literally a blinding white light explosion,” said Julia Puranen, describing the scene behind her Transcona home.
"Then there was more explosions back there, don't know what was causing the explosions. Didn't know trees could explode."
The fire left hydro lines down in Puranen’s backyard where they still sat on Sunday.
"The power is out. It will come back on, they will work on it,” she said. “But trying to get some information from Manitoba Hydro is so very frustrating."
The power utility reached out to customers with a tweet Sunday.
"Complicated work being done for customers in Transcona & Oak Bluff. We know it's been hard. Asking for a little more patience,” it said.
By midday, hydro crews were on scene to begin repairing the damage but could not provide an estimate on how long the work would take.
The storm toppled dozens of trees around the city, including one that crashed onto and right through the roof of another Transcona home.
"The corner of the house is down and the corner of the breezeway and a lot of the shingles are damaged up on top of it,” said Marcel Nadon, the homeowner.
As concerned as he is about the portion of the tree laying across his own home, Nadon expressed even more concern for another section that tipped in the other direction, leaning precariously against another tree and threatening to topple onto his neighbour’s house.
"It's not down yet,” he said. “We've talked to the city and they say they can't do nothing about it, so…I don't know."
Because the tree sits on private property, city staff told him he would have to take care of it.
Crews had their hands full elsewhere, responding to reports of more than a hundred downed or damaged trees on city property.
