Power back on, but frozen water keeps Pimicikamak families away

Thousands of people from Pimicikamak Cree Nation in northern Manitoba remain in hotels and evacuation centres after a days‑long power outage left the community’s water system frozen and many homes uninhabitable.

Pimicikamak, also known as Cross Lake and about 530 kilometres north of Winnipeg, lost electricity on 28 December when a 300‑metre transmission line crossing the Nelson River snapped, cutting power to around 1,300 households. Manitoba Hydro used helicopters to reach the damaged span and gradually restored power in stages late last week to avoid overloading the grid in severe winter conditions.

By the time lights and heaters came back on, the damage was already deep. Chief David Monias says the outage froze the First Nation’s water plants, pumps, tanks and pipes, with water seeping into electrical sockets and plumbing failures now being found house by house. There have been at least four house fires linked to the crisis and 35 homes are currently classed as unliveable, while more than 200 houses have reported damage.

Monias says about 4,000 residents have been evacuated or are still unable to return because of the frozen water system, and that repairs will cost at least $44 – 45 million and take weeks to complete. In a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney, he warned that “elders, infants, children and medically vulnerable citizens are at immediate risk” and asked for the Canadian Armed Forces to be deployed to provide emergency logistics, shelter and water delivery.

Local volunteers and aid agencies have stepped in while governments weigh their next moves. Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak has helped set up evacuation and relief sites in Thompson and Winnipeg, alongside the Canadian Red Cross. Community members living in Winnipeg have organised donation drives for warm clothing, food and hygiene products, while plumbers work through flooded crawl spaces and living rooms to shut off broken pipes and prevent further damage.

Monias has repeatedly argued that the crisis was foreseeable. Pimicikamak leaders have spent years asking Manitoba Hydro to relocate the vulnerable river‑crossing transmission line along the highway so crews could repair it safely in winter. The community was evacuated during wildfires in July, and the chief says residents have now been forced from their homes four times in five years because of wildfires and extreme weather.

With temperatures plunging well below zero and no firm timeline for families to return home, Pimicikamak’s leadership says the immediate focus is on keeping people warm and supplied with clean water, and on making sure this is the last time their community is pushed into a preventable emergency.