The chief of a First Nation community in northern Manitoba says sewage on the floor of at least one home has raised health concerns as buildings are assessed for damage following a days-long power outage.
Pimicikamak Cree Nation Chief David Monias said his team is going from home to home, as well as checking buildings, to see what needs to be fixed.
“We just inspected a house that had a sewage backup right onto the bathtub, on the floor and coming out of the toilets, so it was really a health hazard,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “We had to wear masks to go in there and it’s like that for most of the houses.”
The outage occurred on Dec. 28, with Manitoba Hydro having restored power on Friday to the community which is 530 km north of Winnipeg.
Despite power having returned, Monias had cautioned that a quick return was unlikely as the days without power left water pumps, tanks and pipes frozen.
He said the frozen water system, as well as the pipes that have burst, have destroyed homes and damaged the community’s infrastructure.
Monais said the community has 1,335 houses that have been impacted with 12 per cent having been inspected, though not fully assessed.
“We started mitigating some emergency measures whether to shut off the valves to stop the leakage due to the water breaks and due to the pipes breaking in each house,” he said, adding about two per cent of the homes have been attended to.
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More than 4,000 people were forced from their homes and many are eager to return, but it’s not known yet when that will be or the condition their homes will be in.
The chief said there remains no timeline for when people will be able to return home, saying a lot of work needs to be done in order to make the homes ready for them.
“We have no place to put these people if we are in the middle of fixing their house and that’s why we can’t have them return right away because we need the space to be able to identify, assess and obviously fix up the houses that require repairs or replacement of parts of the house,” Monais said.
The chief told reporters that in addition to homes, there’s been some damage to the pipes and sprinkler systems at the community’s elementary school, as well as impacts to the high school.
He said they’ve had to turn off the water for the school, the homes, as well as the youth centre and arena.
“We don’t have enough people to actually go and fix the problems that are leaking right now,” he said. “So the best thing we can do is set off the water in those areas and some of those neighbourhoods.”
In addition to the various buildings, Monais said community infrastructure like the sewage and water plants are on “life support,” with generators being used.
Monais said the more than 4,000 residents are being housed in various communities including Winnipeg, Thompson, and Flin Flon.
“It’s not ideal, but it’s better than being in a home where the sewage smells really strong,” Monais added.
It’s the fourth time in five years residents have had to leave home due to wildfires and extreme weather, according to the chief.
The chief has repeatedly urged the province to declare a state of emergency so his community can receive help immediately and confirmed Tuesday he’s seen a letter sent by the province calling for federal government’s assistance.
“Being able to see the letter, I think that’s good for us, you know, the sooner we can get help from these guys, from the army, that’d be great,” Monais said.
Premier Wab Kinew is expected to visit the community on Wednesday.
—with files from The Canadian Press
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