SaskPower calls in helicopter patrols to survey storm damage to power grid

SaskPower has been working since Saturday to reconnect power to customers in the southeast corner of the province after another powerful April storm pushed through the area.

The outages span an area from Esterhazy to the American border and as far west as Minton.

According to a news release from SaskPower, 26 crews were deployed to the affected areas in the southeast to tackle the over 24,000 customers who were without power.

As of 4:30 p.m., that had been reduced to around 18,000 customers.

"We saw a lot of downed power lines,” said Jenny Hagen, a storm chaser that was in the area for the storm. “You could see these bright flashes popping off. That appeared to be power lines that were coming down."

The storm this weekend marks the second time this month the southeast corner of the province has been pelted by hazardous winter conditions. An occurrence that is not as rare as you'd think.

"Its' that time of year where these sorts of systems are riding the jet stream,” CTV Regina Meterologist Bradlyn Oakes explained. “The upper atmosphere has been playing a big role in how these systems have been moving through. (Its) not necessarily rare for this time of year."

The effort to get services back up and running has been a challenging one.

SaskPower crews were forced to pause work alotogether Saturday evening due to the “strong winds and hazardous working conditions” the storm was causing.

Ongoing high winds and other weather conditions are still delaying repair efforts in the southeast region.

Several larger transmission lines had sustained damage in the storm, according to the SaskPower release.

The crown corporation announced that the use of helicopter patrols to conduct aerial surveys of the damage to the grid would continue into Monday.

Several events were disrupted by the extended outage including the Saturday night matchup between the Estevan Bruins and the Flin Flon Bombers.

Power was eventually restored to Affinity Place and the game was allowed to continue, according to the Bruins.

SaskPower says that because of the scale of the damage and the weather slowing crews' repair efforts, some customers could remain without power for, “an extended period of time.”

SaskTel says there are no internet, wireless, or landline services in the communities of Carlyle, Kisbey, Kenosee Lake, Manor, Redvers and their surrounding areas.

It warns that more areas may lose their services as battery backup systems will begin failing if commercial power is not restored soon.

Its crews are also working in the area to restore services as they go down.