City-wide fallout from heavy snowfall

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This article was published 10/10/2019 (1861 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Some students at Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute were apparently sent home Friday, after the high school lost power in the wake of a heavy, wet snowfall causing chaos across Winnipeg.

A student standing on a sidewalk outside the school Friday afternoon told the Free Press he was dropped off by his parent at about 8:45 a.m., only to be told about the power outage by a teacher when he entered.

“They told us that we can go home, but most of us can’t, because some of us take a school bus (or) Transit bus,” said the Grade 10 student.

A Winnipeg School Division spokesperson said none of the division’s schools were officially closed Friday.

“We’ve had intermittent power issues at about 17 of our schools today, just like the rest of the city, so it’s an intermittent issue,” the spokesperson said.

In a subsequent email, the spokesperson reiterated Daniel McIntyre was technically open Friday, and said some students were still in attendance.

“Many students were dismissed upon request throughout the day; parents and guardians were contacted for permission prior to any student being dismissed,” the spokesperson wrote.

Meanwhile, the City of Winnipeg pulled the plug on all programming at its recreation facilities and libraries for the remainder of Friday, effective 2 p.m., and closed the buildings to the public.

All facilities will remain closed and lessons cancelled Saturday, with further updates to be provided the same day, Coun. Matt Allard posted on his Facebook page.

At the airport, several incoming and outgoing flights were cancelled Friday, with dozens more delayed, putting Thanksgiving weekend plans on hold.

Several school divisions, as well as Red River College and the University of Manitoba and University of Winnipeg, experienced power outages or issued closures, giving students a little longer long weekend than expected.

According to the city, two days after activating the Red River Floodway, levels at the James Avenue pumping station had receded to just under 12 feet by Friday morning, and the waterway is no longer at risk of flooding.

Though a flood has been ruled unlikely, basements are at risk, the city said, especially as river levels rise and the sewer system’s reliance on pumping stations grows.

With higher levels, the stations must work to carry the water runoff to higher river levels. As of 9:30 p.m. Thursday, the city had received one report of clean-water sewer backup, and one report of a raw sewage backup.