‘Truly frustrating’: Northern Manitoba community requests immediate help dealing with power outages

Ice covering equipment at the local airport in Bunibonbee Cree Nation. (Alex Karpa/CTV News).

At least 50 homes and other critical buildings are now left without power in Bunibonibee Cree Nation (BCN) in northern Manitoba, after a wallop of winter weather blanketed much of the region.

Sheila North, who is the chief of the community - about 970 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg - says they are preparing to distribute generators to vulnerable residents and are planning to move others to safer locations.

“An ice storm came through yesterday and basically coated the entire community with at least over an inch thick of ice,” North told CTV News Friday. “There are trees bent over, and some are even breaking. The hydro lines are coated with ice, and it rained pretty much all day and all night.”

North said they are working on creating a command centre to deal with the ongoing situation, to help those in need.

A public notice was sent to folks in the community Friday morning.

“BCN Prevention is currently in the process of planning the distribution of water bottles to community members affected by the power outage,” the post on Facebook reads. “Hot soup and Bannock ingredients will also be provided to help support those in need during this time and we are calling for people to prepare the food from their homes, and we can deliver and pickup. High School will be providing some food as well.”

As of Friday morning, the community of Bunibonibee Cree Nation, also known as Oxford House, was still under an orange warning from Environment and Climate Change Canada for freezing rain.

Immediate help needed

North has been in contact with Manitoba Hydro, who initially told them crews wouldn’t be able to arrive in the community until Monday afternoon, leaving many in the dark for days.

North said she has pushed back and is now hoping crews can arrive in community this weekend to deal with the power outage.

“We’re most worried about our most vulnerable, including elders, children and people with health issues and ongoing health concerns,” she said. “There are people that have home dialysis machines that need consistent power supply to operate and then there’s people with oxygen tanks.”

“We need to make sure that their homes are supplied with electricity or move them to different spaces.”

A spokesperson with Manitoba Hydro told CTV News the information regarding crews not arriving in the community until Monday “was not accurate” and apologized for the misunderstanding.

At this time, Manitoba crews are standing by to respond.

“Due to weather and travel restrictions it will not be possible today. It is currently unsafe to fly or drive in. We are aiming to begin restoration work Saturday,” a statement from Manitoba Hydro reads.

“Estimated restoration times will be updated once we gain access to the communities and do a more thorough damage assessment. Further outages are possible due to weather,” the statement read.

As of Friday morning, in addition to power outages in Bunibonibee Cree Nation, Manitoba Hydro is reporting several power outages in other northern Manitoba communities, including South Indian Lake, God’s River, Red Sucker Lake, and the City of Thompson.

The Hydro spokesperson says customers can go online to see the latest information regarding ongoing power outages.