Spring storm pummels southwest Sask. leaving thousands without power

Thousands of people in southwest Saskatchewan spent the night without power following a powerful spring storm that caused widespread damage to trees and power poles.

On Tuesday morning, Environment Canada issued a wind warning for the southwest corner of the province, saying winds could gust as high as 90 kilometres per hour through the day.

SaskPower said the strong winds caused significant damage to its infrastructure, particularly in the Maple Creek area. This includes up to 200 or 300 damaged power poles, and miles of downed power lines. Crews were able to restore power to the Eastend, Val Marie, Shaunavon and Climax areas.

As of 6:30 p.m., the utility had fielded about 2,600 calls and more than 3,300 customers in Maple Creek, Frontier and surrounding rural areas were still without power.

The Town of Maple Creek has issued a water restriction until further notice because the Water Treatment Plant has no power.

Initially, the town warned residents it could take up to three days before repairs are made, but Mayor Michelle McKenzie said Wednesday morning she’s optimistic power will be restored later today.

“(SaskPower) is very, very hopeful,” she said. “Because of the wind, (crews) are not allowed to go up in the bucket trucks. They’re hoping the wind calms down and then they can get those things working.

“We have people that are coming in looking at having emergency generators and water. I want (people) to know we are there for them.”

In the meantime, the Salvation Army in town is open to anyone who needs a warm place to go.

“If you need food, water (or) somewhere to sleep, resources are available at the Salvation Army Hall. There will be enough generator power available to run the warming station, fridge, stove, heat, oxygen concentrators,” said a Facebook post from the town.

Salvation Army Maj. Charlotte Dean said about half a dozen people slept on cots overnight. Residents continued to stream in Wednesday morning with the hall being one of the few places in town with power.

“Quite a bit of people are coming to fill up their coffee containers. A big thing of course is people coming in to charge their phones,” she said.

Dean said they served about 40 people breakfast and made takeout meals for seniors.

The storm was still impacting travel in the southwest corner Wednesday morning.

As of 10:30 a.m., the Highway Hotline said Highway 13 was closed from the Highway 21 junction to Shaunavon. As well, travel wasn’t recommended on Highway 37 from Gull Lake south to Shaunavon.