An early winter storm with heavy wet snow caused fallen trees, many on cars, and power lines in Winnipeg early Friday morning, October 11, 2019. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods)

WINNIPEG — Manitoba Hydro says it has fully restored power to all customers affected by the early winter snowstorm between October 11-13.

The Crown utility says it has replaced more than 4,000 damaged wood poles in 11 days and repaired approximately 950 kilometres of power lines.

“This was a huge challenge for Manitoba Hydro and one we met head-on with the help of neighbouring utilities, partner contractors and the support of thousands of Manitobans,” said Manitoba Hydro president and CEO Jay Grewal.

Evacuated residents of Little Saskatchewan First Nation, Lake St. Martin First Nation and the community of Dauphin River will begin returning home as large diesel generators temporarily supply power. Crews are finishing up some last-minute repairs to power lines in the three communities. Evacuees had been staying in hotels and the RBC Convention Centre.

Crews from SaskPower, Hydro One and Minnesota Power began returning home on Wednesday. They helped Manitoba Hydro staff in the field after a limited state of emergency was declared earlier this month.

Hydro says the next step is to clean up broken poles, transformers, overhead wires and other materials left by the storm. The task is expected to be completed by mid-November, weather permitting.

Manitoba Hydro received more than 266,000 outage reports between October 10-17.

By the numbers

• 7,059 articles of fire-retardant clothing (shirts, overalls, and jackets)
• 1,162 pairs of underwear
• 715 boot dryers
• 411 pairs of rubber boots
• 157 pairs of shoelaces
• 3,168 pairs of gloves/mitts • 2,727 pairs of socks
• 808 blister kits
• 500 laundry bags
• 244 hip/chest waders