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More than 8,000 customers in and around Portage la Prairie were still without power Saturday and roads remained closed as the city got some of the worst of the Colorado Low that swept through southern Manitoba.

Portage la Prairie Fire Chief Phil Carpenter said the town slowly lost power throughout Friday and by midnight, the city was dark.

“We have no power in our city,” said Carpenter. “Nowhere.” Tweet This

The TransCanada highway closed Friday due to increasingly blustery and snow covered roads, and remained closed as of 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.

Because the area’s hotels were full, the city opened an emergency shelter at the Herman Prior Centre overnight.

It is anticipated that the Trans Canada Highway will

remain closed until at least Saturday morning. The City of Portage will be opening an Emergency Shelter at the Herman Prior Centre at 40

Royal Road N. Doors will open there at 5:00 pm. For general questions, call

239-8340 — City of Portage (@CityofPortage) October 11, 2019

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About 60 people were sheltered at the Centre, said Carpenter.

“We’re doing the best that we can. We’re working around it, and keeping people fed and sheltered until the highways are opened — I guess that we’ll be looking after them.”

“Lucky it’s not a real cold environment, and we’re feeding them to the best of our abilities.”

People were also asked to conserve water, and therefore were asked not to flush toilets to prevent sewage from backing up into people’s homes.

We are asking citizens to please limit their water consumption to essential use only. Our lift stations are running on back up power and limiting water consumption will help to avoid sewer back ups. Thank you for your cooperation. We will continue to update throughout the day. — City of Portage (@CityofPortage) October 12, 2019

Crews worked through the night to remove trees from the city’s priority streets.

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“The travel within the city is getting a little better, however, we are recommending that people do stay home because there is trees and power lines down,” said Carpenter.

“Lots of damage has been done.” Tweet This

One main source of the power outage appeared to be the destruction of a tower that toppled, bringing down a 115,000-volt line that runs between the city and Brandon.

“In the Portage area we are experiencing major issues with our 230,000-volt and 115,000-volt transmission system, which supplies power into our major terminal stations in the area, which in turn feed sub-transmission lines to local substations and then into the distribution grid,” said Manitoba Hydro spokesperson Scott Powell.

Our crews are having trouble travelling in severely affected areas due to traffic backups. If you can avoid unnecessary travel near Portage, Morden and Carman, it would be a great help to our crews. pic.twitter.com/hs2GLkGc4I — Manitoba Hydro (@manitobahydro) October 12, 2019

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“We are having trouble even accessing those lines to locate the problems. Consequently, without power feeding those substations, we have large blocks of customers without electricity.”

A night in a shelter in Portage La Prairie wasn’t in my Thanksgiving Holidays plans, but I am sure giving thanks to the Portage residents who kept stranded holiday travellers safe & warm last night. #manitoba #mbstorm #portagelaprairie https://t.co/6nuUmMF3VD pic.twitter.com/L0AoEycP1Y — Donna Miller Fry (@fryed) October 12, 2019

Hydro is trying to re-route power from alternate sources of supply, he said.

“While we are making good progress in Winnipeg, the amount of snow around Portage la Prairie, into the Interlake and farther north is really hampering our efforts to even get crews out to begin damage assessments.

“Many roads are completely impassable, and we are now starting to utilize snowmobiles and tracked vehicles to access areas that would otherwise be inaccessible.”

Powell warned Portage-area customers they may be without power for “an extended period.”

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Things have gone dark in Portage la Prairie again at the Canad Inns Men's Classic early in draw 4. Teams will be given practice and then resume with a clean end where they left off at 8am tomorrow morning. #curling pic.twitter.com/HMEMKg9u9T — CurlingZone (@CurlingZone) October 12, 2019