Manitoba Hydro on standby for potential power outages

Spring snowstorm bears down on Manitoba All non-essential Winnipeg city services are closed in preparation for the heavy snowstorm. Jill Macyshon reports.

As a spring storm moves into southern Manitoba, crews with Manitoba Hydro are on standby to see how the blizzard will affect power in the province.

“We’ve got our folks on standby just watching the weather conditions right now and, of course, the road conditions,” said Bruce Owen, media relations officer for Manitoba Hydro, in an interview on Wednesday.

As of Wednesday morning, there are a handful of outages in Manitoba affecting a small number of customers.

However, Manitoba Hydro is watching to see how the weather may change.

“If the winds pick up and we start to see any freezing rain, that may change things for us,” Owen said.

Owen added that one of the Crown corporation’s biggest worries is moisture building ice on the power lines.

“If the wind picks up with that ice on the lines, those lines start to bounce,” he said.

“When they start to bounce into one another that causes outages. It causes lines to fail. It may cause wood poles to fail. This is the thing we're very conscious of and we’re prepared for.”

A MESSAGE TO CUSTOMERS

For customers that experience power outages during the storm, Owen asks for your patience.

He noted that Manitoba Hydro crews have to travel on the same roads as everyone else and need to stay safe

“If there’s an outage, we’re getting to you as soon as we safely can and as we’re allowed to travel,” he said.

More information on how to prepare for an outage can be found online.

- With files from CTV’s Rachel Lagace.