SOUTHEAST SASKATCHEWAN - Update at 5:40 p.m.:
Shortly after 2 p.m. Thursday, SaskPower crews were able to restore power to all remaining customers who were without power in southeast Saskatchewan. This comes as the four-day restoration effort begins to wind down, with crews being sent back to their home districts. A salvage operation now begins.
SaskPower extends thanks to its customers for their patience and understanding as crews worked tirelessly to restore power.
"The damage sustained by this recent storm was substantial, and the warmth and support from the southeast has been greatly appreciated," SaskPower said in a news release.
Customers in the region may experience short, planned outages in the coming days as crews continue to make repairs. More information about planned outages can be found at saskpower.com/outages.
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Update at 4:45 p.m. Wednesday:
SaskPower crews are hard at work in the province’s southeast for the fourth straight day, making repairs following the powerful spring storm that rolled through the region.
The utility is currently focusing on restoring any farm and residential customers who are still without electricity, and anticipate all but 10 to be restored by the end of today. SaskPower will be in contact with the remaining customers who are expected to be off tonight.
In the coming days, priority will shift to restoring power to oilfield customers and material salvage.
"We want to thank all of our customers affected by this most recent storm for their patience, understanding, and support. The support our crews have received from the communities while they work to restore power has been greatly appreciated. Safety is our priority, and our crews have been working as quickly as they can to restore power safely."
Customers who were affected by this outage may experience short, planned outages as SaskPower continues to work on the electrical system following the storm.
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Update at 7 a.m. Wednesday:
As the third day of SaskPower’s restoration effort came to a close Tuesday, the utility is reporting over 1,150 residential and farm customers are back on following the powerful spring storm that hammered the southeast part of the province this past weekend.
Despite working through extremely difficult wet and muddy conditions, SaskPower crews have been able to make solid progress restoring power as safely as possible.
Approximately 300 customers were still without power Tuesday night, but are expected to all be restored by Wednesday evening.
"SaskPower would like to offer its sincere gratitude and thanks to the countless farmers and producers who have assisted in the restoration effort in the southeast, helping tow power line equipment through muddy fields. Without this assistance, some repairs may have taken much longer than they did, and for this help, SaskPower crews are extremely grateful."
In the coming days, customers in the southeast could experience short planned outages while SaskPower crews complete permanent repairs to the grid.
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Update at 3:09 p.m. Tuesday
SaskPower crews continue to work at restoring customers without power following the spring storm that hammered the region.
The Crown corporation says additional crews from other districts have been dispatched to the Carlyle, Estevan, Moosomin and Carnduff areas, and repairs will progress throughout the day.
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 last night. The majority of these customers are expected to be restored tonight.
For customers that will remain without power into tomorrow, SaskPower is actively working to determine estimated times to restore power and will let these customers know as soon as possible.
Through the use of helicopters and ground patrols, a comprehensive damage assessment was completed Monday. Approximately 1,300 incidents of damage (to a power pole, power line, crossarm, etc.) were identified and catalogued – in comparison, the storm that hit the Maple Creek area earlier this month had approximately 300 incidents of damage.
As of 11 a.m., the SaskPower outage centre has fielded over 15,000 calls.
Since the beginning of the restoration effort, over 3,100 crossarms, 600 power poles and 300 metres of power line have been dispatched to the southeast.
SaskTel, meanwhile, says the majority of services have been restored throughout southeast Saskatchewan and there are no communities that are currently isolated – without SaskTel internet, wireless and landline (home phone and business phone) services.
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Update at 9:45 p.m. Monday:
Throughout the evening, SaskPower crews were able to restore power to Redvers, North Portal, Wapella and the rural area south of Stoughton. Remaining residential and farm customers without power are estimated to be restored by 6 p.m. Tuesday evening, barring any issues or unexpected delays.
Since the beginning of the restoration effort, over 600 power poles and 2,200 crossarms have been reported to crews in the area. This number is anticipated to rise as work continues into Tuesday.
Additional crews have also been brought in to assist with repairs. A crew from Prince Albert, one from Kindersley, two from Saskatoon, and two from Tisdale will begin working in the region tomorrow morning. Updated number of technicians currently deployed to the southeast is now up to 216.
The SaskPower outage centre has fielded over 9,700 calls since the beginning of the spring storm that brought widespread outages to the southeast corner of the province.
Reports of downed lines are still coming in from around the region. If anyone comes across a downed line, they should keep back a safe distance (at least 10 metres or 33 feet), and call the SaskPower Outage Centre (911 if it’s an emergency).
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Update at 4:55 p.m. on April 25:
SaskPower crews continue to work diligently, cleaning up after the powerful spring storm that rolled through the southeast corner of the province.
As a result of the hard work of power line crews, a number of estimated restoration times have been established:
- Rural customers north of Estevan (including the Estevan airport) - 6 p.m.;
- Stoughton area - 10 p.m.
- Redvers and rural areas east towards Manitoba - 10 p.m.
- Rurals east of Alida (including Storthoaks) - 10 p.m.
- Rurals east of Oxbow - 10 p.m.
- Village of North Portal - 10 p.m.
- Town of Wapella - 10 p.m.
SaskPower is anticipating to have nearly 4,000 residential customers restored by the end of the day, barring any unforeseen complications or issues. White Bear was restored earlier this afternoon.
Residents stretching from Macoun to south of Outram are expected to be off until Tuesday.
Roughly 500 customers in the Carnduff, Auberton, Parkman and Torquay areas will likely remain off until Tuesday evening. The utility is estimating the majority of these remaining customers to be restored by 6 p.m. Tuesday evening.
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Update for April 25 at 1 p.m.:
SaskPower says its crews continue to address the widespread damage to power infrastructure following the Colorado low that swept through the province’s southeast this past weekend.
Thirty-five crews, spread out across several districts, including Estevan, Stoughton, Carlyle, Kipling and Moosomin, began their restoration effort Monday morning at 7 a.m., working diligently to restore power.
As of 11 a.m., approximately 4,500 residential customers remain without power, with the majority being in the rural areas north of Estevan, the North Portal area, and the Carnduff/Oxbow area. Estimated times of restoration (ETRs) are currently unavailable, but a clearer picture should be available later today. Once ETRs are established, they will be communicated through the SaskPower outage centre’s automated message, and on the SaskPower Twitter page.
Helicopter patrols continue Monday, with aerial damage assessments happening in the Carnduff/Oxbow, Carlyle and North Portal areas. Thus far, SaskPower has logged 890 damage points (either a power pole, crossarm or power line that has sustained damage) across the affected areas. Over 540 power poles have been dispatched to the southeast, and more are expected to be sent throughout today and into tomorrow.
Due to the wide scope and severity of the damage sustained from this storm, some customers may remain without power overnight tonight. A more specific list of where these customers are will be available at the next update. Any customers who have health or safety concerns as a result of this outage are encouraged to reach out to their local representation (rural municipality, town, band office, etc) for assistance.
Meanwhile, SaskTel says it is still experiencing service outages in some communities in southeast Saskatchewan due to power outages caused by the recent spring storm.
All SaskTel services have been restored in and around the communities of Carlyle, Kisbey, Kenosee Lake, Manor, and Redvers. SaskTel internet, wireless and landline (home phone and business phone) services are unavailable in and around the communities of Storthoaks and White Bear First Nations.
SaskTel Wireless service is unavailable in and around the communities of Blewett and Outram. SaskTel crews are working to restore services as quickly as possible, however there currently is no estimated time of repair. Additionally, all services may not be restored until commercial power is fully restored.
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Update for the morning of April 25:
Throughout the day on Sunday, SaskPower crews continued to make significant gains in restoring power to the storm-battered southeast corner of the province.
As of 8:00 p.m. Sunday, crews were able to restore approximately 12,000 customers. Since the previous update, the towns of Manor, Oxbow, Carnduff, Carievale, Gainsborough and Arcola have been restored, with more restorations still possible.
Customers still experiencing an outage in a community that has been restored should call the SaskPower outage centre for more information and to report their outage. Following storms of this nature, there is a chance for secondary services - the lines that connect homes and business to the SaskPower grid - may have sustained damage.
If an area has been restored, and a customer is still without power, they should call the outage centre. SaskPower technicians will be able to identify if the secondary has been damaged, and be able to assist with a repair. There were 12,188 customers without power as of Sunday night, and some of these customers will remain off overnight. Communities expected to be off tonight include Frobisher, White Bear, Redvers and Storthoaks.
SaskPower has brought in crews and workers from all around the southern part of the province, including from Regina, Saskatoon, Weyburn, North Battleford, Yorkton, Melville and Swift Current. All told, 182 technicians comprising 35 crews will be dispatched Monday to continue the repairs.
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SaskPower crews have had to respond to a number of power outages in southeast Saskatchewan this weekend due to a powerful snowstorm.
In a tweet sent Saturday evening at 8:46 p.m., SaskPower said crews were aware of multiple outages affecting customers in the southeast corner of the province. However, due to strong winds and hazardous work conditions, crews were standing down for the evening and would head back out Sunday morning when it was safe to do so.
Customers experiencing outages were asked to be prepared to be without power throughout the night.
“Updates on estimated times to restore power will be provided as crews are able to assess damage,” SaskPower said.
In a news release Sunday morning, SaskPower said crews were conducting a comprehensive damage assessment following the storm. High winds and precipitation caused significant damage in the region, knocking power out to customers as far southeast as Saskatchewan's borders with the U.S. and Manitoba, and as far north as the Broadview area.
As of 7:30 a.m., 24,460 customers were without power. That number was reduced by nearly 7,000 to around 18,000 by Sunday afternoon at 4:37 p.m.
SaskPower currently has 26 crews deployed to the affected areas, with more being brought in Monday. Road conditions continue to slow damage assessment and repair efforts in some parts of the region.
Helicopter patrols will continue Monday to assist with damage assessment.
Some customers in the affected areas will remain without power overnight Sunday and into Monday. Since the beginning of the storm, the SaskPower outage centre has fielded over 6,000 calls.
Due to the nature of this recent storm, with freezing rain and snow, combined with temperatures around freezing, there has been a large amount of ice and snow buildup on power lines and power poles. SaskPower asks that customers avoid passing under power lines, as there is a risk of falling ice and snow. Also, due to this ice and snow buildup, there is a heightened risk of power lines being brought down.
As damage assessment progresses Sunday and Monday, SaskPower will provide more detail on estimated times to restore power.
Road conditions and high wind gust speeds are slowing restoration efforts, as work can only be completed when it's safe to do so, SaskPower said.
Several larger transmission lines have sustained damage, causing widespread outages in the region.
Customers are reminded to stay back a safe distance from downed power lines. If anyone should come across a downed or damaged power line, they should remain back at least 10 metres and call the SaskPower Outage Centre at 310-2220. In an emergency, call 911.
SaskPower thanks its customers for their patience and understanding while crews address the significant damage following this powerful storm.
SaskTel, meanwhile, says it is experiencing service outages in a number of communities in southeast Saskatchewan due to power outages caused by the recent spring storm.
Some communities have limited services at this time, and SaskTel anticipates more services may fail as back-up battery power depletes if commercial power is not restored.
There was no internet, wireless, and landline - SaskTel home and business phone - services in and around the communities of Arcola, Carlyle, Kisbey, Kenosee Lake, Manor and Redvers. SaskTel crews are working to restore services as quickly as possible, however there currently is no estimated time of repair.
In an afternoon update, SaskTel said some communities have limited services at this time, and they anticipate more services may fail. At this time, all SaskTel services have been restored in Arcola, however internet, wireless, and landline services were still unavailable in the other communities.
SaskTel crews are working to restore services as quickly as possible, however there currently is no estimated time of repair. Additionally, all services may not be restored until commercial power is fully restored.
