The snowstorm that blasted Manitoba and Saskatchewan last weekend knocked out power, made driving treacherous and piled up to 40 centimetres of snow on some parts of the Prairies.
A five-hour power outage was reported in an area east of Dominion City, Man., on Easter Sunday. Dairy producers were among those affected, including the family of Laurie Broesky.
Broesky said they finished milking their cows five hours later than usual because of the outage Sunday morning. They borrowed a generator to finish the task, and now worry that the delayed chores could translate into less milk production in the weeks ahead.
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Snowfall varied from 15 to 40 cm throughout much of southern Manitoba. Southeastern Saskatchewan received 10 cm on average.
The storm forced the closure of several major roads in Manitoba on Saturday night. On Sunday morning, police advised against traveling in western Manitoba due to icy and snow-packed sections of road.
The Royal Manitoba Winter Fair, held in Brandon last week, felt the effects. Attendance at the indoor fair dipped below 100,000 people, down about 15,000 compared to the previous year.
“We were disappointed again that Mother Nature seems to have thrown a curveball at us,” said Dave Wowchuk, general manager of the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba.
“I guess that’s why they call it the Winter Fair.”
Communities that were rocked by the Red River flood of 1997 are again wary this spring. Clarence Braun, mayor of Niverville, Man., worries about the absence of a permanent dike around his community. A temporary dike, built to fend off the flood of 1997, was removed.
Funding is in place to build a permanent dike there, but Braun does not know when the project might be completed. In the meantime, he said his community has learned from experience how to better respond in the event of another flood.
Meanwhile, the weekend snowfall was seen as good news for hayland and pasture in areas that were bereft of snow and drying out.
“Everyone would have preferred an inch of warm rain compared to this,” said Bob Durston, Manitoba agricultural representative at Neepawa, Man. “But it’s moisture for those who need it.”
Fields in the Neepawa area already had good moisture levels before the storm, Durston said. Farmers there were keen for the day they could start their spring field work.
“It brings the guys back to reality in that they’re not going to be on the fields next week,” Durston said.
