As we head into day two following a crazy fall snowstorm, SaskPower is continuing to restore electricity to roughly 1,600 customers in sections of Moose Jaw and a number of rural communities.  

Starting Saturday night and through Monday morning 25 to 40 cm of heavy wet snow fell causing a lot of disruptions to customers due to fallen trees on powerlines.  

“The big thing was getting in there to survey the damage and start the repairs because the road conditions were really poor,” says SaskPower spokesperson, Joel Cherry. “It’s difficult even at this time of the year to clear snow. There are a lot of different factors that came into effect,” says Cherry.  

“When we get out there to do the repairs the ground is not frozen, so it’s sloppy as the snow is melting. There are a lot of different factors to contend with when responding to these outages.” 

As of Tuesday morning, some northeast and northwest sections of Moose Jaw are still without power and rural communities as far northwest as Riverhurst, and as far south as Old Wives are still powerless.  

Some good news has come on Tuesday to the roughly 1,600 customers still left without power, as SaskPower is hopeful that by the end of the day most of the affected customers will regain power.  

Cherry adds that they are expecting to restore power for some of the northeast and northwest sections of Moose Jaw and areas west of Caron by 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday.  

Additionally, they are expected to have the power up and running in the communities northwest of Tuxford by 3:00 p.m. Tuesday. Those areas have been without power for over 48 hours. 

Though it is expected the power will be restored to most residences by the end of the day, Cherry says there could be delays, especially in more isolated communities.  

Those in the Buffalo Pound Provincial Park may have to wait a little longer, as it is still difficult to get into that area due to fallen trees and snow-covered roads.  

At the height of the snowstorm on Sunday SaskPowers estimates that about 12,000 customers were without power.  

Outage Map Oct 25 (3).PNG SaskPower's Outage Map as of 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday.