Manitoba dust storm leaves downed power lines, outages in its wake

Manitoba Hydro power lines are photographed just outside Winnipeg, Monday, May 1, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

Manitoba Hydro is dealing with a slew of outages on Friday morning after a powerful dust storm hit the province.

According to social media posts from the Crown corporation, Thursday’s high winds and dust storm caused downed power lines and fallen trees throughout southwest Manitoba. This has led to widespread outages in Winnipeg, as well as the Parkland and Westman regions.

Though crews worked as quickly as possible to restore power, poor visibility and strong winds forced them to pause work on Thursday night. Manitoba Hydro will continue its efforts in the light of day, which means some customers won’t have power until later on Friday.

A full look at the power outages in Manitoba is available online.