The Thanksgiving storm took away the power from a lot of communities forcing many from their homes, with the power on, they can return. 

Manitoba Hydro has restored the power for all its customers who suffered because of the storm. Using large diesel generators, Little Saskatchewan First Nation, Lake St. Martin First Nation, and the community of Dauphin River, are temporarily supported as the workers continue repairing the power lines. 

The storm occurred October 11-13, impacting Winnipeg, southwestern Manitoba, and the Interlake. In 11 days 4,000 damaged poles and 960 kilometres of power lines have been replaced or repaired.

“This was a huge challenge for Manitoba Hydro and one we met head-on with the help of neighbouring utilities, partner contractors and the support of thousands of Manitobans,” Jay Grewal, Manitoba Hydro President and CEO says.

Now the main focus is cleaning up the broken poles, transformers, overhead wires, and more that were destroyed by the storm. 

“We’re asking our customers to be on the lookout for these materials in all areas of southern Manitoba as it could pose a hazard to anyone riding an off-road vehicle such as an ATV, dirt bike or snowmobile, or to cross country skiers and back-country hikers,” Grewal says.

Manitoba Hydro advises residents not to move any damaged materials because it could be dangerous. If it looks like a definite hazard they ask that you call 911 and avoid going near them or letting your pets and livestock near the area.

From Oct. 10 – Oct. 17, Manitoba Hydro received over 266,000 outage reports.

"There is more work to do, certainly, but as we’ve seen these past two weeks, we can accomplish anything when all of us work together,” Premier Brian Pallister says.