Faithfully Yours - Not amused; definitely amazed

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Published on Saturday, May 23, 2015

By Neil Strohschein

When they designed the front page for their May 16, 2015 edition, the editors of the Winnipeg Free Press were trying to be funny—and initially, their plans succeeded.

The page featured a rather large photo of a statue of Queen Victoria with the caption: “The Queen would not be amused.” It was, of course, a reference to the storm that hit our region this past weekend; which turned out to be a little more violent than initially anticipated.

Like most of us, Queen Victoria would not have been amused to see the destruction and disruption caused by Sunday’s storm. But I think she would have been amazed to see the dedication of those who ventured out in it to provide emergency services to their neighbors.

I saw two examples of that dedication last Sunday. Both happened at the same location, roughly 2.5 blocks from my home in Neepawa.

I became aware of the first incident as I was driving home from church in McCreary. My wife called to tell me that the power had gone out around 11 a.m. Facebook postings which she accessed through the app on her cell phone indicated that the disruption in service was restricted to the 10-block portion of Neepawa in which our house is located. My route home took me past the site of the broken lines, which were in the final stages of being repaired.

The power came back on around 2:30 p.m. and stayed on long enough for us to cook our evening meal. Then, around 5:30 p.m., it went off with a bang. A quick drive south identified the source of the problem—a huge spruce tree had fallen, taking with it all the utility lines beneath it. This break was half a block from the earlier one. Within an hour, emergency crews from Manitoba Hydro, Westman Cable, and MTS were on the scene assessing the damage; with Engine # 1 from Neepawa’s Fire Department standing by in case it was needed. By 10:30 that night, the tree had been removed, the street had been cleared and all services had been restored.

My story is one of thousands that could be told—stories of police, ambulance attendants, fire and rescue crews, those who maintain our highways, repair broken hydro lines, fix water main breaks and unplug clogged sewer lines. These dedicated professionals were out in full force last Sunday, working as hard as they could to keep us safe; to restore the services on which we depend and to rescue those who, through no fault of their own, suddenly found their lives or property in danger.

This column is my feeble attempt to say “thank you” and “congratulations on a job well done.”

Being without hydro for a few hours was an inconvenience but nothing more. Missed TV shows can be watched later. Facebook survived without us being on it. An added layer of clothing kept us warm as the house got cooler. By Monday morning, everything was back to normal—including the weather. It went from frightful to delightful in less than eight hours—a change even Queen Victoria would have appreciated.

Our society tends to take many things for granted. When services are disrupted, we want them instantly restored. When they aren’t, we complain. But we fail to remember that what takes one second to break can often take several hours (sometimes days) to repair. Those who braved the elements last Sunday to restore disrupted services in communities across southern Manitoba are a special group of people. They deserve our admiration and respect.