Iqaluit (Sep 27/04) - High winds, heavy rains and blinding snow pounded Nunavut last week leaving a Gjoa Haven woman dead while ripping the roof off one house, knocking down power lines and leaving hundreds of people without power.

Around the territory, Environment Canada issued 60 weather warnings for a range of severe weather including gale force winds, rain, blizzards and thunder storms.

The roof of this Iglulik house was torn apart during the Sept. 21 storm. Three power lines were knocked down during the blizzard. - photo courtesy of Rick Doucet

In Gjoa Haven, the frozen body of Eva Aquptangoak, 26, was found eight kilometres outside the community, Sept. 22.

The mother of three children -- a nine-year-old, a six-year-old and a 15-month-old -- left her home abruptly, alone and on foot Sept. 20, just as the massive storm gripped the region. Her reasons for leaving are still not known. Police, search and rescue and community members combed the region. Benny Porter was one of them. He was reported missing, but fortunately he made it back to the community safely on Sept. 23.

Aquptangoak's body was found about 30 feet from the shore of Swan Lake. Police say she died of exposure. She was wearing a light jacket, purple jeans, and running shoes.

Eddie Kikoak, 69, knew Aquptangoak since she was young and said the community is devastated by the news. Aquptangoak's family is sad and angry, he said.

"It is sad when a young person like that with so much ahead of them just dies like that," he said. "She had a new baby and she was breast feeding."

Kikoak said family members were now on local radio requesting milk for the baby.

Tanker delays

The storm didn't stop in Gjoa Haven. In Resolute Bay, the fuel tanker finally arrived but the rough water, which made a spill possible, kept it from delivering its load.

After three or four hours work, the gusts brought ice into the bay and the ship's crew temporarily pulled out for fear of getting stuck, said acting senior administrative officer Ralph Alexander.

"With a bit more snow, it would be a blizzard," said Alexander. "It's just been one of those years."

As of 1 p.m. Sept. 21, the wind was gusting at up to 68 km/h and was expected to pick up in the evening.

Taloyoak wasn't as lucky. There the raging blizzard forced Netsilik school and the hamlet office to close on Sept. 21.

"It's not really cold, but it sure is blowing out there, probably 70 to 80 km/h winds out there," said Scotty Edgerton, one of the few people working at the hamlet office on Tuesday morning. "It's all snow drifts out there now. We're still having a council meeting here tonight."

High winds of up to 90 km/h also passed through the communities of Hall Beach and Iglulik, the latter of which had three power lines knocked out keeping the power off to a third of the town for about a day.

"You can hardly see across the street," said Iglulik senior administrative officer Rick Doucet, minutes before the power went down. The storm also partially ripped the roof off a house.

A silver lining

Power was briefly cut off to a home in Hall Beach, but the poor weather brought about a positive effect as well.

"After the storm, a lot of people were collecting clams on the beach that were washed out by the waves," said public works clerk John Pialaq. "We do this every year at this time."

Over in Rankin Inlet, an unofficial record of 50.6 millimetres of rain fell as the weather system moved across the Kivalliq and into the southern Baffin region.

Power out in the capital

Iqaluit was left without power for some time during the storm.

"When the power went out, most of us were sitting at home and about a minute and a half afterwards, we were at the plant," said Peter Mackey, director of operations and information technology with Nunavut Power Corp. in Iqaluit.

Iqaluit saw no snow accumulate during the storm, but freezing tends to weigh down the lines, which "stretch so much with the weight of the ice," said Grant Penney, a line supervisor at Nunavut Power Corp.

"What a storm to cap the summer," said Yvonne Bilan-Wallace, a meteorologist with Environment Canada who specializes in the NWT and Nunavut. She said storms at this time of year are generally caused by warm air clashing with northern air that has suddenly turned cool.

"What is unusual is the energy in this system and the range of weather," she said.