Relentless blizzard pounds Manitoba for second night

CTV National News: Chaos on highways A blizzard is causing chaos on Manitoba highways. Jill Macyshon reports on the winter blast hitting the Prairies.

Manitoba remains in the grip of a massive blizzard for a second night -- a brutal blast of winter weather that has closed highways, knocked out power, and blinded drivers with extreme white-out conditions.

Hundreds were trapped inside their cars along major highways, some buried in half-metre high drifts, unable to move until the relentless storm passes. Many were forced into survival mode, spending a frigid Monday night behind the wheel as temperatures plunged into the mid-minus teens.

“It was just terrible. You couldn’t see anything,” Jean Pasche told CTV Winnipeg after spending the night trapped at the roadside along Highway 1.

Firefighters used snowmobiles to bring food and gas to stranded motorists trapped along a stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Alexander. About 70 stranded motorists are preparing to hunker down for a second night inside a makeshift shelter at a local public school until roads reopen.

The majority of the province remains under blizzard warnings from Environment Canada, with snowfall ranging from 10 centimeters near the Canada-U.S. border to as much as 60 centimetres in the northern regions.

Powerful winds continue to gust up to 90 km/h. Visibility remains virtually non-existent in many areas.

“It’s extremely challenging. You can imagine the roads are quite dangerous and treacherous today,” said Cpl. Carrie Kennedy with RCMP Traffic Services told CTV News. “It puts all our officers in danger when they are responding to the stranded people that are injured on the highways.”

Manitoba RCMP has reported no casualties as a result of the storm, but a tow truck driver was killed in highway crash near the community of Esterhazy, Sask.

Residents in the community of Alexander opened a school gynasium to house 80 travellers stranded by the winter storm.

"They are all being catered for, with lots of food," David Matthews, with the rural municipality of Whitehead Fire Department, said. "Some are sleeping in the school gym on air beds, mattresses and cots supplied by the community. A few others are staying in people’s houses."

CTV Winnipeg weather specialist Colleen Bready says conditions are expected to improve on Wednesday as a high-pressure system moves into the region, bringing temperatures down with a blast of arctic air and reducing snowfall.

The storm has knocked out power to thousands of customers across the province. Manitoba Hydro spokesperson Scott Powell said 3,600 customers in western Manitoba lost power in places including: Sifton, Souris, Glenwood, Neepawa, Grassland and Norfolk.

Manitoba Hydro said about 466 customers in western region remain in the dark, noting most should prepare for the outage to last overnight.

White-out conditions have left workers unable to reach powerlines across the province that have been damaged by lightening, fallen trees, broken poles, ice and wind.

Motors are advised to avoid travel if possible, visit Manitoba511.ca to check road closures before heading out, an make sure they are travelling with emergency kits and blankets.

Via Rails says trains between Winnipeg and Churchill have been cancelled temporarily.

The Winnipeg Airport Authority says there have been some flight cancellations and delays at Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport.

With a report from CTV National News Bureau Chief in Winnipeg Jill Macyshon and CTV Winnipeg