Crew from Regina pitching in with Manitoba cleanup

Regina is helping Winnipeg pick up the pieces.

Workers and equipment from the Queen City have headed to the Manitoba capital to assist in its cleanup after a fall snowstorm battered the city last week.

Regina Mayor Michael Fougere said Wednesday that Winnipeg reached out for help through the Big City Emergency management group — and Regina was among the cities that responded.

The City of Regina is pleased to help Winnipeg’s recovery efforts in the aftermath of the huge storm last week. We are sending in crews and equipment to help clear fallen trees and help in the clean up @Mayor_Bowman

— Michael Fougere (@MayorFougere) October 16, 2019

A crew of seven employees from Regina’s urban forestry unit got to Winnipeg on Wednesday afternoon.

“(They’re) primarily helping to clear up the streets of branches, tree branches, and getting the streets cleared out,” Fougere said. “That’s their primary focus.”

And they’ll be there for as long as they’re needed.

“(Winnipeg has) got a massive problem,” Fougere said. “I think about 10 to 15 per cent of the tree canopy has been destroyed by the storm, so there’s lots of work to be done and there is, as to this moment, no time period for (the City of Regina employees) to come back.”

Fougere stressed that Regina will have enough workers on hand to take care of any issues that may arise while the city’s employees help out in Winnipeg.

He noted that the City of Winnipeg and the federal government will foot the bill for the Regina crew, so there won’t be any cost to the Queen City.

Besides, he was only too happy to help.

“It’s gratifying to know that there’s help available and we’re more than happy to assist any community that has a problem like this,” Fougere said. “We have the equipment and the skill and manpower and staffing to do it, so we’ll do it.”

Meanwhile, Manitoba Hydro crews continued to restore power Wednesday to homes and businesses hit by last week’s snowstorm.

Even with the help of workers from Ontario, Saskatchewan and Minnesota, many residents could be without electricity for several more days.

“All those wood poles that are down or damaged … have to be replaced,” Manitoba Hydro spokesman Bruce Owen said.

“In the outlying areas where people, for lack of a better expression, are at the end of the road … it will take us a little bit of time to get to them.”

The storm provided a double-whammy. It brought heavy, wet snow that took down or damaged thousands of poles and transmission towers across a wide swath of the province. And because it came on the heels of earlier wet weather, it left ditches filled with water and fields soggy.

To deal with the wet terrain, crews have been using tracked vehicles, which operate like tanks, to get to places that ordinary wheels have a hard time accessing. Workers from Saskatchewan and Minnesota also brought in extra vehicles, Owen said.

By Wednesday afternoon, roughly 9,000 customers were still without power — down from 13,000 on Tuesday and 53,000 on Saturday. Most of the remaining outages were in small towns, First Nations communities and farm country in the central part of the province.

One of the hardest-hit areas is the Rural Municipality of Portage la Prairie, a large, predominantly agricultural region that surrounds the city of the same name. Some 1,700 homes and businesses were without power, and the municipality was working to ensure people had enough food and other amenities.

Even residents who are normally prepared for emergencies with backup power and stocked food were feeling the pinch after six days, said Kam Blight, the municipality’s reeve.

“We’re identifying where people can access generators and hotel rooms and food,” he said.

“But we also put out a call to identify what people need — what are you missing, what are you short on, what could you use. And then we’re going to do our best to satisfy those needs.”

Roughly 6,000 people were evacuated from a dozen First Nations communities. Most have been put up by friends or family or placed in hotels. Fewer than 100 spent Tuesday night in an emergency shelter, the Canadian Red Cross said. The agency scrapped plans to open a second shelter.

Niki Ashton, a New Democrat incumbent running for re-election in a federal riding that includes some of the affected First Nations, said she hoped Elections Canada will find a way to let evacuees vote in Monday’s election if they are not back home.

Manitoba Hydro opened four camps for its crews near Portage la Prairie and in the Interlake region to the north. The camps are near community centres or other facilities with kitchens and provide a place to rest and recover in between 16-hour shifts.

“Not only to get a decent rest, but also be provided facilities where they can shower, eat, (get a)change of clothes, change of supplies,” Owen said.

Blight said people in his area were helping each other until the power comes back on.

“I tell you, this community knows how to rally around and rise up to support each other. So we know we’re in good hands when we need to call for some support and help.”

With files from the Canadian Press