Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, January 30, 2008

BAKER LAKE/RANKIN INLET - It was business as usual at stores across the Kivalliq after a seven-day blizzard ended this past week.

The storm had shelves empty of many items for days in Kivalliq stores.

Baker Lake Northern store manager Allan Hart said his store was almost totally out of produce items when supply planes finally started to land in the community.

Daniel Ramey stocks the shelves at the Kissarvik Coop following a sevenday blizzard that finally ended in Rankin Inlet this past week. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo

He said the first items to vanish were bread and milk.

"All we had left in produce were staples like apples, oranges and potatoes," said Hart.

"Every drop of milk was gone during the blizzard, as was every loaf of bread.

"We were able to stay open for our regular hours every day of the blizzard except one, when we were forced to close around 4 p.m."

The Baker store usually receives shipments on Monday and Thursday.

Its last shipment came in on Jan. 14, just two days before the blizzard struck.

Baker didn't see another shipment until Jan. 23.

Hart has been in Baker for the past 32 years.

He said while a lack of supplies during prolonged blizzards can make everyday life a little trying, at times, people who call the Kivalliq home know what to expect during the winter months.

"There was no ill will or anything like that in the store during the storm because people here are used to it.

"We usually get a bad blow once or twice a year, although not necessarily for seven days in a row.

"It happens every year, so people just take it in stride."

Hart can remember a two-week storm hitting Baker about 20 years ago.

He said there wasn't a plane to be seen during that time, but people made do with what they had.

"People carried on as normally as they could, but you did get kind of sick of it after awhile.

"Blizzards are part of life when you live in the Arctic.

"I was impressed with the effort Calm Air made to get freight in here after the weather lifted.

"We all knock them from time to time, but they were very co-operative with us when the storm diminished."

Rankin Inlet Kissarvik Co-op manager Walter Morey said his store also ran out of milk and bread and was very low on eggs.

He said a number of store shelves were bare before the storm finally lifted.

"We get our perishables on Monday and, most of the time, we're OK if our freight is only delayed for two or three days," said Morey.

"This time around the Northern was out of a lot of things, so we really got wiped at our store as well.

"The storm also had a big impact on our two hotels, where we ran very low on a number of items.

"Our Co-op hotel was full of guests during the storm and the Siniktarvik Hotel was about half-full, so there was quite a strain on our resources and we used up a lot of stuff."

The Siniktarvik lost its cable TV and 10 homes in Rankin were on half-power during the storm, as conditions made it impossible for repair crews to get into the hamlet.

Morey said it's also very difficult to get product into the store from warehouse locations during long storms.

He said resupply items stored in off-site locations are tough to get at when everything's snowed-in.

"We're still running on our sealift supply with items such as sugar, flour and dry goods.

"Stuff that can freeze is stored right in our building, but items that can't freeze are warehoused off-site.

"When you can't get at them for a week, you run out of drink crystals, Kraft Dinner and items like that.

"Running out of those items can be tough on big families in the community."