The Hamlet of Pangirtung once again has full power after declaring a state of emergency on Dec. 2.
Some residents in the community of 1,500 people were left without electricity for several days after extreme winds downed power lines, and a Qulliq Energy Corporation emergency repair crew dispatched from Iqaluit was able to fly to the community after the inclement weather calmed.
“With the final customer having been energized yesterday [Dec. 5], power has been restored to all customers in Pangnirtung. All storm damage and line servicing was repaired by line crews on Tuesday [Dec. 5],” a representative from QEC informed NNSL Media.
Power outages were first reported by the power corporation in Pangnirtung on the evening of Nov. 29, and many locals were forced to evacuate to emergency shelters set up in schools.
“We’ve had pretty much a week of storms — high winds, blowing snow,” said a Pagnirtung resident at the emergency school shelter Saturday night, who wished to remain anonymous. “The worst storm was Thursday night and that’s when the power went out. The hamlet has been distributing fuel for stoves, and the schools have set up emergency generators and warming stations.”
In total, the power outage lasted a week in some parts of the hamlet.