It was a story that gripped most of southern Saskatchewan and had some people on the verge of an emergency situation. Thankfully, six hours after the lights went out on December 4th, 2018, power was restored to most SaskPower customers after one of the largest power outages in recent history.

We're counting down the Top 10 Local News Stories of the Year and the power outage comes in at #8.

If nothing else, we learned something as a province during that power failure, always be prepared. Hundreds of thousands of people were without power and some didn't have their service restored only this next day. It was originally blamed on frost that has been weighing down power lines and poles for a week but after about an hour, we started to get word of a much larger problem. It turned out that three of the SaskPower generations sites had gone offline for some unknown reason, leaving the system severely underpowered to meet the demands of winter needs. Combine the two issues together and it created one of the largest power outages in recent memory.

"At approximately 9 o'clock, when the power went off, we lost power stations in the southeast including the Boundary Dam Power Station, all four units, as well as the Shand Power Station and the Poplar River Power Station near Coronach as well," explained SaskPower Spokesperson Jordan Jackle.

Jackle said they had hundreds of employees were on the ground, roads and in the sky to try and figure out exactly what happened to cause the system to shut down in the way that it did. Some photos show the obvious issues with power lines being pulled down under the weight of the frost but there's no word on why three major power stations all went down at the same time.

Some regions had power back on in a matter of minutes, others took a couple of hours while communities like Moose Jaw went six hours without electricity. Many people on social media had confused a planned power outage for rural Moose Jaw as the cause for the drop in service.

The lack of power caused concerns for many residents as most also lost their heat, ability to cook and in some cases, power for medical equipment.

Just as residents were getting their routines back in order, many areas lost power again the very next day and at nearly the same time as the original outage. The relapse caused a momentary pause for many as they started to prepare for the worst but it would be short-lived while crews worked on the system.

In the days and hours that followed, many stories would come to light about neighbours helping neighbours. That was the case for one resident with Moose Jaw's Families for Change. The organization reached out to Valley View Centre, which didn't face any disruptions during the outage as they have a backup generator that gave them full power while a portion of the province was in the dark for hours.

Director of Programs and Operational Supports, Terry Hardy, said it's important for people in these situations or vulnerable residents to have their equipment working no matter what.

"Those things are critical for individuals that require them for their health and well being. Certainly, that's one of the things we're afforded at the centre in terms of the backup generator to operate the centre. We were more than happy; we've got a working relationship for Moose Jaw's Families for Change," explained Hardy.

"We were just happy that we could be there. It was a stressful time I imagine for everybody in the city because we were without power for several hours and it was an opportunity for us to do something and be a part of the community."

It should be noted how big the hearts of Valley View staff are, as they didn't hesitate in saying yes when the call came in.

"We were certainly pleased. First of all, that is the correct response for anybody in terms of their employment here, and being able to offer service to people with disabilities in the community. We were happy the person working at Reception Services took the call and said 'yes, we'd be happy to help.' Of course, we support that."

In the days and weeks that have followed the outage, many homeowners and businesses have been reviewing their back up power options while also exploring ideas for alternative heat sources. That lack of heat seemed to be the biggest issue in Moose Jaw since most furnaces require electricity to run.