Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION
Hundreds still without power in cottage country after storm
Albert Rudolph examines trees that knocked down power lines in Halcyon Cove, south of Grand Beach, Sunday. (BORIS MINKEVICH)
As dawn broke over cottage country Monday morning, Manitoba Hydro crews were expected to be back on the job restoring power to hundreds of customers.
"All efforts are going to be focused on Victoria Beach, Grand Beach, Grand Marais, Hillside Beach, Patricia Beach, at first light....with full force," Manitoba Hydro spokesman Jim Peters said Sunday.
Strong winds and heavy rains Saturday night knocked out power to hundreds of cottage-country hydro customers.
He said there were still some customers without power Sunday in the Lac du Bonnet area, and other scattered outages in more remote areas or unincorprated areas.
Peters said that Hydro should know by noon today what the timelines are of getting power restored to those municipalities.
Peters said the Grand Beach area includes Victoria Beach and Grand Marais, while hard-hit areas in the Whiteshell include Dorothy Lake, Bird Lake, and Nopiming Provincial Park.
Most Hydro customers in the Interlake who were without power Saturday night had it restored by Sunday morning. Peters said it’s hard to gauge the number of households still without power in cottage country, but said hundreds of people are affected.
"The problem of course has been the very high winds, which have taken down trees and tree branches," said Peters. Those trees and branches knocked down power lines, he said, and other lines were brought down by the force of the winds.
Peters said extra Hydro crews were called in on Sunday.
Victoria Beach police Chief Stewart MacPherson said he had six trees topple in his yard alone. He said 4th, 5th and 6th streets in Victoria Beach are the worst-off areas, with some trees lifted out of the ground by the roots. Some neighbours reportedly awoke thinking a tornado had hit.
"There was such devastation," he said.
MacPherson said a lot of cottagers went back to Winnipeg early Sunday in light of the outage.
The situation was "terrible" at Doris’ Grocery Store in Grand Marais, said owner Lorraine Easton.
"We’re out of power, our basement’s flooding and our freezers are out," said Easton, who was trying to set up a generator early Sunday afternoon.
Winds in the Grand Beach and Grand Marais areas were blowing on Saturday at 80 km per hour from the northwest, with gusts of up to 96 km per hour, according to Environment Canada.
The storms Saturday also led to heavy flooding on Sagkeeng First Nation, situated on the Winnipeg River.
Resident Marilyn Courchene said she has a foot of water in her yard and said trees are blown over everywhere. Couchene said she believes dozens of basements on the First Nation are now flooded.
The rains have also flooded a number of Manitoba highways, and the province is advising drivers take caution in the following areas:
- PTH 59, two km north of PTH 11, near the Birchwood Motor Hotel
- PR 319, near the Patricia Beach Provincial Park entrance
- PR 500, near PTH 12 and PTH 59- PR 314, near Springer Lake in Nopiming Provincial Park
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