Thick snow leaves thousands in the dark

Thousands of residents in southeastern Manitoba are without hydro this morning.

Manitoba Hydro is reporting outages throughout Central Plains, Interlake, and the Southeast, as well as the City of Winnipeg.

As of 8 a.m. there were only three smaller outages but that number could grow as the morning goes on.

There are two separate outages in the Steinbach area. The area north of Highway 52 lost its power at 5:55 a.m., impacting 618 customers. Hydro is expected to be restored there at 9 a.m.

Then, from Highway 52 in Steinbach down to Friedensfeld, about 688 customers lost their hydro at 4 a.m. According to Manitoba Hydro, power there should be restored any minute.

There is an area north of Grunthal that lost its power at 4:56 a.m. Manitoba Hydro says about 307 customers are impacted and is hoping to have power restored by 8 a.m.

In the Marchand area, there are two separate outages impacting 571 customers. For some residents, the hydro has been out since 3:42 a.m. Manitoba Hydro is hoping to have all power restored there by 9 a.m.

And, north of Highway 1, near Paradise Village, nearly 600 customers lost power at 6:05 a.m. Manitoba Hydro is hoping to have power restored by 9:30 a.m.

The snow is expected to end in Winnipeg Friday morning, with scattered flurries a possibility the remainder of the day.