ManitobaThe power’s back on in Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation, for the most part, but a state of emergency remains in place after a weekend snowstorm left about 3,000 people without heat and electricity.’When things like this happen, lives are at stake’: Marcel MoodyDarren Bernhardt · CBC News · Posted: Oct 15, 2025 12:40 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours agoThe band office in Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation is seen in a file photo. A lot of people in the northern community had no heat and no way to cook food for a couple of days, says Deputy Chief Marcel Moody. (CBC)The power’s back on in Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation for the most part, but a state of emergency remains in place.The remote northern community issued the state of emergency Tuesday after a weekend snowstorm left about 3,000 people without heat and electricity.”There’s a few homes [about 20-30] that still don’t have power and they’re still trying to fix the [hydro] lines. There were lines down, transformers were blown,” said Marcel Moody, deputy chief of Nisichawayasihk, which is about 655 kilometres north of Winnipeg.A major storm system brought rain to many parts of the province late Sunday into Monday. As the system moved north, the rain turned into heavy, wet snow that caused trees to buckle and power lines to snap.More than 12,000 Manitoba Hydro customers were affected at one point. Nisichawayasihk lost its electricity Sunday and didn’t didn’t see it restored until 8 p.m. Tuesday.”A lot of people in their homes didn’t have any heat for a few days. People didn’t have any food. Thanksgiving weekend was completely frustrating for a lot of us,” Moody said.Trees hang heavy with thick, wet snow in northern Manitoba after a storm on Monday. This image was taken near The Pas. (Manitoba Hydro)About 100 people — elders and families with young children — were bused to the city of Thompson, 65 kilometres to the east, to stay in hotels.”We were hoping the power would come back on the next day, but it didn’t, so we had to scramble and move more people to Thompson,” Moody said.By declaring the state of emergency, Moody hoped the community would get financial support from the Canadian Red Cross for hotel and travel costs.The community also reached out to Indigenous Services Canada for emergency assistance and additional resources, such as generators, that can be on hand for future power outages.He would like for every house in the community to have a generator but is still waiting on word from the two agencies.”When things like this happen, lives are at stake, you know, people’s safety’s at stake, so we gotta plan better, organize ourselves better and manage equipment a little bit better,” Moody said. The status of the state of emergency depends on when the power will be fully restored, Moody said, adding he expects the declaration will be lifted within a day or two.Similarly, a storm-related power outage in Opaskwayak Cree Nation prompted a 24-hour state of emergency on Monday afternoon. Power in that community, about 515 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, was restored on Tuesday.Layering up in Snow LakeSnow Lake received the largest amount of snow from the storm, with an estimated 35 cm, according to Environment Canada.The entire town, 575 kilometres north of Winnipeg, has been without power since about 8:30 p.m. Sunday.Mayor Ron Scott said everything is closed except for a single gas station/convenience store running on generator power. “It’s pretty crusty, icy snow this morning. And a lot of the open area that I can see is due to a lot of snapped trees down all over town,” Scott told CBC Manitoba’s Information Radio host Marcy Markusa on Wednesday.The situation is impacting about 1,000 people but the town hasn’t declared a state of emergency because it didn’t anticipate the restoration work by Manitoba Hydro to take this long, said Scott, who admitted to being layered in long underwear, pyjamas, pants and two jackets.The temperature inside his house at the time was 7 C.”We had hoped that the power would be back on at 10 o’clock last night but obviously the situation is more complex for [Manitoba] Hydro to repair. Hopefully we’ll get the power back today, we’ll see how it goes,” Scott said.”Most people are just hunkering down at home and piling on the clothes and the blankets and so on to stay warm. “It’s been a rough few months for many of the communities. Just a few months ago, they were being evacuated due to wildfire threats or thick smoke from fires kilometres away. “We had to evacuate our whole community twice this summer. It seems there’s always something happening … in northern Manitoba lately,” Moody said.Similarly, Snow Lake residents faced a mandatory evacuation in June due to wildfire threats. They returned just over a week later, only to be forced out a second time in July. That evacuation lasted six weeks, with everyone going back in mid-August.”Nature has not been kind to Snow Lake this year at all,” Scott said.He’s hoping for some relief soon: Wednesday’s weather forecast calls for a sunny high of 9 C. In the meantime, he encourages people to “just be patient.””Bundle up, layer up the bedding and we’ll get through this,” he said, “and together, look after each other, look in on those who are elderly and do your best to stay warm.”ABOUT THE AUTHORDarren Bernhardt has been with CBC Manitoba since 2009 and specializes in offbeat and local history stories. He is the author of two bestselling books: The Lesser Known: A History of Oddities from the Heart of the Continent, and Prairie Oddities: Punkinhead, Peculiar Gravity and More Lesser Known Histories.With files from Marjorie Dowhos
Power’s restored for most of Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation, but state of emergency remains
