Storm continues to pound region; city, Hydro struggling to keep up with deteriorating conditions

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

If you can manage to avoid going outside today, city hall is urging you to do so.

With snow falling, and with thousands of Winnipeg residences and businesses currently without power, Mayor Brian Bowman called on residents to avoid any non-essential travel, and to be cautious of downed power lines and fallen trees.

The city activated its emergency operations centre Friday morning to deal with ongoing issues caused by the wet, heavy snowfall that began Thursday, bringing together 25 representatives from several city departments, including forestry.

Jason Shaw, the manager of the centre, said the team is working hard as the weather continues to worsen entering the Thanksgiving Day long weekend.

Stretches of the Trans-Canada and Perimeter highways, along with highways 3 and 16, have been closed. Winnipeg Transit is experiencing weather-related delays and urges customers to check schedules and allow for additional travel time.

More than 37,000 people in the province — including approximately 26,000 in Winnipeg — are without power, Manitoba Hydro says. And at least 12 departing and 12 arriving flights at James Armstrong Richardson airport have been cancelled.

Several school divisions in the province have cancelled classes.

Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service is experiencing longer-than-normal response times and has received about 700 calls for assistance over the last 24 hours, roughly double the normal volume.

Since 7 p.m. Thursday, the service has responded to more than 220 calls for problems related to hydro lines, including two structural fires. Residents are advised to stay away from downed power lines but call 911 immediately.

Despite the continued snowfall, the Red River at the James Avenue pumping station has begun to recede, the city says. It was down to just under 12 feet at 7 a.m., a significant drop two days after the floodway was activated.

“At this time, there are no properties at risk of river flooding,” a media release stated.

Though a river 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.

Meanwhile, trees across the province that still have leaves are being weighed down and, in some cases, collapsing under the heavy, wet snow.

“Tree damages may be severe, especially to hardwoods, given the weight of the snow, given that temperatures are relatively warm compared to that of a winter storm,” said Jacques Tardif, a biologist who studies trees and forests at the University of Winnipeg.

Once wet snow is trapped on a tree, its stems and branches bend toward the ground, catching more weight, he explained. If possible, heavy snow should be removed from branches but should be done with care to avoid damaging the tree.

“If only small branches have broken, a tree will recover,” Tardif said. “But when major damages have occurred arborists may be needed to help the recovery process.” The city said downed trees or branches can be reported through 311.

The weighed-down trees have put a strain on Manitoba Hydro. “I can sum (the situation) up pretty succinctly,” said public affairs officer Bruce Owen. “It’s bad.”

Owen said that the trees have been bending and coming into contact with power lines, and in some cases, snapped-off limbs are taking lines out and wrecking poles and crossarms. Entire communities have lost power, as has been the situation in Stony Mountain.

Hydro crews have been out repairing lines in high-priority locations for hours, and Owen anticipated the workload would continue to increase throughout the day. “At this point, we cannot tell anyone without service when it will be restored,” he said.

Because of the backlog on power outages, Owen also said people who still have power but have a downed tree should call private contractors, as Hydro is working around the clock to restore power to high-priority, high-volume areas.

ben.waldman@freepress.mb.ca