Pimicikamak Cree Nation residents rejoice as power returns after Manitoba Hydro fixes downed line
CBC
Residents of Pimicikamak Cree Nation are celebrating and relieved now that power and electricity are being restored to the community.
Manitoba Hydro has repaired a broken line that caused a widespread outage. On Thursday, it began restoring power to homes in stages, nearly four days after the downed line left community members without heat in freezing winter temperatures and prompted a state of emergency.
“I seen my outside light on. I said, ‘praise the Lord! We have light again!’” said Brenda Monias, who remained in the community for the entire duration of the outage.
She was overjoyed with the return of light and warmth on New Year’s Day. “It's very good. And I'm happy for my grandchildren so they won't be cold.”
Manitoba Hydro spokesperson Peter Chura said crews have completed repairs to the downed power line. He said power will be restored throughout the First Nation community Thursday as the utility gradually re-energizes customers.
The utility is turning the power back on in stages because doing so all at once "could overload and damage equipment, and prolong the outage," Chura told CBC News
Power is expected to be fully restored to all customers in the community by sometime Thursday evening, he added.
On Sunday night, lights went dark and heaters went cold in the northern Manitoba First Nation, located about 530 kilometres north of Winnipeg, when a power line that crosses the Nelson River snapped.
“It was –30 with the wind chill here," Grand Elder Raymond Robinson said of the situation earlier in the week before power was restored. "When I go to these homes, when they're breathing you just see that mist coming out of people's mouths because they didn't have [any] heating system."
Chief David Monias declared a state of emergency on Monday and criticized Hydro Manitoba for its initial slow response.
About 1,400 people left the community — which has a population of about 7,000 residents — to seek warm shelter at hotels or with loved ones, a provincial spokesperson told CBC News on Thursday.
The Canadian Red Cross shipped in more than 500 generators and 600 heaters for household use as of Thursday, the national organization told CBC News.
In a Thursday Facebook post Chief Monias said community leaders are concerned about the impact the prolonged outage and extreme cold may have had on infrastructure, like burst pipes and damaged water pumps.
He said plumbers are already working to fix the damage, but they might need more support as hundreds of homes may have been affected.
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