Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

RANKIN INLET (Jan 13/99) - The Keewatin was pounded by a savage winter blizzard last week which virtually brought the entire district to its knees.

Winds topped the 120 km/h mark and temperatures plummeted to -80 C with the wind-chill factor, which surpassed 2,800 W/m2 (watts per square metre). Under such conditions, exposed skin will freeze in less than 15 seconds.

The storm swept into much of the Keewatin last Tuesday morning. In Rankin Inlet, the entire hamlet was shut down late Tuesday morning and remained under the winter siege until the storm finally began to break last Thursday morning.

An above-average snow accumulation accompanied the blizzard, making driving snow a major problem. In some parts of the hamlet, streets were blocked by five-foot high snowdrifts, while many residents had to dig their way out of their homes.

Rankin's new high school, Simon Alalttuq Ford high school, suffered a rough initiation at the hands of the blizzard during its first official week of being open. School principal Donald Clarke said the school had to remain closed last Thursday until the mess left behind by the blizzard was cleaned up. The Taparti Centre, which houses the Rankin office of the interim commissioner, also had its share of woes from the storm.

Donald Clarke said the school had its share of weather problems from the storm, including having its front doors completely blocked in by drifting snow.

"One of our gymnasium doors blew open during the blizzard, so we had some snow inside the gymnasium. It didn't cause any freeze up or anything like that, but we had to get the snow cleared out of the gym. There were a few other things, as well, that we're learning about the building as we go."

"I hope this is not a trend that's going to happen every time we have a little storm. Everybody's working on the problems, so, hopefully, repairs will be made and things will work out for the better. There's always a little bit of snow that comes through the weather stripping at the front doors, but the department of public works is working to correct the problems."

Work crews from the Keewatin Property Management and Maintenance (KPM&M) Co., which maintains the Taparti Centre, spent most of last Thursday making repairs at the building and cleaning up water damage left behind by the storm.

"Basically, what happened, was the way the wind was blowing froze one sprinkler pipe in the mechanical room and it burst," said KPM&M manager Joe Alexander. "The burst flooded out the health board side of the building."

"We had to repair the pipe and clean up the water and whatnot, but that's the way it goes sometimes here when the weather decides to act up."

There were no injuries reported in the region as a result of the storm.