Power still out in some areas of southeast Saskatchewan

Some SaskPower customers in southeast Saskatchewan are expected to spend another night in the dark.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Crown corporation updated its efforts to restore power in that area of the province in the wake of the snowstorm that battered the area on the weekend.

Initially, nearly 25,000 customers lost their power when the storm hit; as of Monday night, around 1,500 customers were still without electricity.

“SaskPower had initially reported that approximately 500 customers would be off overnight, but due to delays in repairs caused by extremely wet and muddy conditions, 1,482 residential and farm customers were without power (Monday) night,” the company said in a media release. “The majority of these customers are expected to be restored (Tuesday).

“For customers that will remain without power into (Wednesday), SaskPower is actively working to determine estimated times to restore power.”

It’s unknown how many customers won’t have power overnight.

Personnel and equipment were moved into the area Tuesday to help with repairs. According to SaskPower, more than 3,100 crossarms, 600 power poles and 300 metres of power line have been sent to the region since the work began.

Meanwhile, SaskPower said a damage assessment done by ground patrols and helicopters showed the extent of the storm’s impact.

High winds and heavy snow caused around 1,300 incidents of damage to power poles, power lines, crossarms and so forth during the storm.

By comparison, the storm that hit the Maple Creek area earlier in April created about 300 incidents of damage.

(SaskPower/Submitted)