Through floods and fires we have seen over the years how an emergency brings out the best in Manitobans. Over the past week this has been put to the test again following the explosion of a natural gas line and the resulting loss of natural gas to thousands of homes.
Many residents found themselves without heat and/or hot water during one of the coldest winters in recent memories. And while that scenario could easily have proven to be a disaster, several factors helped to make things as manageable as possible.
The first was the fast response of municipal officials who quickly put in place their emergency plan and support measures. Information was communicated about the outages and the progress of the repair as they worked to find out which residences and facilities relied on natural gas for heat. Warming centres were established for the benefit of any of those impacted by the gas outage that needed a warm place.
The fact that the number of people who used the warming centres was small is a testament to the resiliency of those who were without heat and who found other ways, often creative ways, to heat their homes to a safe level. It also speaks to the fact that many neighbors and friends where helping each other out during the outage.
A special thanks is extended to the many workers at Manitoba Hydro and Gas who worked through the weekend and around the clock to get the supply of natural gas up and flowing as soon as possible. They worked in cold and difficult weather conditions both to get the gas restored and then visiting homes to ensure that furnaces were again working.
TransCanada Pipeline has indicted that there will be a compensation program for the direct costs incurred by those impacted by the gas outage. There has not yet been a cause established for the explosion as the investigation is still ongoing.
