Pimicikamak Cree Nation in northern Manitoba battling burst pipes, other problems as power restored

As power restoration continues in Pimicikamak Cree Nation, community leaders say residents are now battling burst pipes, flooding and damage after a days-long power outage in extreme cold temperatures.

Power went out in the northern Manitoba First Nation, about 530 kilometres north of Winnipeg, on Sunday, when a power line that crosses the Nelson River snapped. Manitoba Hydro began restoring power in stages on Thursday. 

As of Thursday night, about two-thirds of homes had their power back, Chief David Monias said in a video update posted to Facebook. 

But within hours, Pimicikamak residents began reporting leaks and burst pipes, Coun. Shirley Robinson told CBC News Network on Thursday evening. 

“We’re already getting calls that there’s some busted water lines. There’s sewage backups in bathtubs, there’s cracked toilet bowls, there’s cracked flooring from busted water lines,” Robinson said. 

“There’s water break lines inside homes and there’s flooding starting to happen.”

Monias said the community is dealing with “massive infrastructure breakdown” in a Friday morning Facebook post sharing videos from a community member whose pipes were spewing water as water pooled on the floor. 

“This is evidence that just because we have power doesn’t [mean] we are okay! We are not okay!” he wrote. 

Monias previously warned that the extreme cold, with temperatures sitting well below –20 C in recent days, could negatively impact community infrastructure, including home plumbing, as well as water and sewage plants. 

Pimicikamak residents are asked to contact band council members if they notice any leaks in their plumbing lines, Monias said in a Thursday video update. 

Leaders are working to assess damage, with hundreds of homes estimated to have been affected, he said. Plumbers are working to fix issues — but there aren’t enough plumbers locally, said Monias, and they need more help. 

A provincial government spokesperson said about 1,400 people left the community, which has an on-reserve population of about 7,000 residents, after a state of emergency was declared on Monday. Residents evacuated to hotels and sought warm shelter with loved ones across the province. 

Despite power being restored, it remained unclear as of Friday morning when evacuees can return home. 

“Everybody thinks you can go home right away because there’s power,” Monias said Thursday.

But “we have to assess the damage. I don’t want you to go home and your house is full of leaks and there’s water everywhere, and there’s ice everywhere,” he said, adding that lack of access to clean, running water is “becoming a health issue.”

George Paupanekis has been staying at a hotel in Winnipeg since Tuesday. 

His home got cold enough during the outage that he could see his breath, he said. Paupanekis said the only way to stay warm during the first few frigid days was to pile on three or four blankets and keep moving. 

“It was cold, I’m telling you. Freezing. Freezing cold,” he told CBC News on Thursday before the power was restored in the community. 

That extreme cold likely froze pipes, and he said he’s worried they will burst. 

“We only have so many plumbers back home,” Paupanekis said, and he thinks it will take a long time before the community’s plumbing issues are fixed. 

“I have no idea when we’re going back home. I don’t know how long it’s going to take for our plumbing, because I know it’s going to take a little while,” he said. 

Monias said he’s hoping evacuees won’t be out much longer.

“I hope to get you home soon, but not too soon that you’ll go to a broken home,” Monias said.