High winds caused multiple power outages in Northern Manitoba May 9.
A Manitoba Hydro spokesperson said the first call about an outage came in at 6 a.m. regarding a loss of power to 400 customers including the Thompson Airport. Hydro staff found a tree on a power line and restored service around 7:15 a.m.
“Following the restoration subsequent calls were received with outages affecting the communities of Thompson, Wabowden, Paint Lake, Cross Lake, Lac Brochet, all caused by high winds,” said Manitoba Hydro media relations officer Bruce Owen.
Thompson had numerous power outages, with the largest, affecting 154 customers, on the southern end of town reported at 10:38 a.m. and another affecting 94 customers on the east side of Thompson reported at 11:08 a.m. That power outage resulted in the cancellation of afternoon classes at Wapanohk Community School, though power was restored in the area around 12:30 p.m.
Owen said about 20 staff in the Thompson region were dealing with outages, including additional crews called in from The Pas. Poles were broken and power lines down along Liz Lake Road at Paint Lake, multiple trees were on power lines along Cabin Road at Paint Lake, and crews were dealing with sparking wires in Wabowden.
Thompson had winds of 30 kilometres per hour gusting to as high as 70 kilometres per hour beginning 5 a.m. May 9, according to Environment Canada.
