Power was┬аrestored to all homes in Arviat, Nunavut, on Saturday afternoon after days-long outages left some residents without heat and electricity for up to four days.
According to an update from Qulliq Energy Corporation, Nunavut’s┬аpower corporation, power was restored to all homes in Arviat at 3:30 p.m. CT, with the exception of the local middle school, where crews are still working on getting electricity back up and running.┬а
Power outages in Arviat started on┬аTuesday, when a huge blizzard tore through Nunavut’s western Kivalliq┬аRegion. In Arviat, Environment Canada meteorologist Samantha Mauti told CBC that┬аwinds during the blizzard reached up to 119 km/h on Tuesday, a┬аrecord for the community for November.
The hamlet of Arviat declared a state of emergency in response to ongoing power outages on Friday evening, according to the hamlet’s mayor┬аJoe Savikataaq┬аJr.
As of Saturday morning, 53 homes in the 2,800-person community were still without power, according to local housing corporation employee Daniel Alagalak.
Arviat┬аMayor Savikataaq┬аtold CBC┬аNews that some people in the community were┬аusing Coleman stoves to heat their homes, and several┬аresidents have had water pipes burst because of the cold.
Qulliq┬аEnergy Corporation, which supplies power to the region,┬аtold CBC on Friday it was┬аhaving difficulties getting repair crews into the community because of cancelled flights.
