Pimicikamak Cree Nation and the incorporated community of Cross Lake declared a state of emergency Oct. 27 after more than 24 hours without electricity.
The power outage began during a snowstorm around 7 p.m. Oct. 26, CTV News reported, and Manitoba Hydro said that poor weather conditions made it difficult for crews to find what caused the outage, which affected about 1,200 customers. Crews could not fly overhead to survey the damage and find the problem, so they had to search by foot, ATV and boat. The cause of the outage was found Sunday afternoon, Manitoba Hydro said, but additional resources had to be called in from Thompson to repair the damage.
"We are very concerned about the well-being of the elders, the dialysis patients, the sick, and the very young people in Pimicikamak and Cross Lake,” said Pimicikamak Cree Nation Chief David Monias in a press release sent out by Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO) shortly before 9 p.m. Sunday. “We are acting in the best interests of our vulnerable citizens. While we do hope that hydro will be restored later today, we need to take necessary precautions to protect the lives of our community members by evacuating them out of the community as soon as possible.”
A Red Cross spokesperson told CTV News that its services had been activated and it was communicating with the community to see how it could support them.
Power appeared to have been restored to all customers by 10:30 p.m. Oct. 27, CTV News reported.
