by Jennifer Pritchett
Northern News Services

RANKIN INLET (Oct 22/97) - Residents across the Keewatin won't soon forget the hurricane-force winds that last week turned a Rankin Inlet cabin into splinters, overturned trailers, and knocked down power lines last.

William Noah, mayor of Baker Lake, said that the storm was the worst he's ever seen so early in the season. He remembers a storm in 1987 that brought a lot of wet snow, but it was a lot later in the winter.

"This one is the worst one before the lake froze," he said. "It's the worst one in my lifetime -- that's 50 years," he said. "Tuesday night the couch was shaking."

Until two hunters who were stranded on the barrens returned to the community on Thursday, Noah was convinced no one could survive on the land during such a storm. "I don't think anyone could survive that storm," he said hours before they were located.

The two men were cold and hungry, but otherwise alright after the ordeal.

Nine more hunters from Rankin Inlet were also stranded on the barrens. Several of them found shelter in a cabin and two had wrapped themselves in a tent to wait out the storm.

"I think people in this area know about high winds and are prepared for it," said Rankin Inlet mayor John Hickes.

He said the storm was so severe it affected satellite reception, a first for the area.

The hamlet relied on a portable satellite they purchased for emergency-use. "It has certainly paid itself off," he added.

Hickes said the storm was a test for emergency services that had been in place for years around the Keewatin. "I'm happy to know that the emergency centre works and that volunteers are standing by," he said.

Rick Phaneuf, Co-op manager in Whale Cove' agrees.

"We had no fatalities and no emergency situations, and this is a reflection of the well- organized community -- with the emergency back-up power at the school and the nursing station," he said.

He also said that the storm was a test to everyone's ability to come together and make sure people are looked after. Residents in Whale Cove lost their power and were forced into Inuglak school, some for as long as two nights. The hamlet picked everybody up and brought them to the school Tuesday night.

"The school was toasty..." he said. "They all stayed there and drank hot chocolate. When the chips are down, everyone pulls together."

Residents in Arviat were without electricity after their power lines were knocked down.

Repulse Bay, Coral Harbour and Chesterfield Inlet reported high winds and blizzard conditions, but no major damages.

Meanwhile, John Alexander, supervisor at the Arctic Weather Centre in Edmonton, confirmed that the storm was indeed the worst in 13 years. The last storm of its magnitude took place Dec. 26, 1985.

Alexander, who's been forecasting Arctic weather for 25 years, said that warm air from Ontario and the United States mixed with the air above Hudson Bay, which isn't yet frozen.

"When you have a large body of open water, it enhances winds," he said. "It wasn't just Hudson Bay being open, it was the other factors as well."

Alexander said that when the two extremely strong air masses from the north and south came together, it created hurricane force winds, or winds that gust faster than 120 km/h.

He also said that there is a major difference between a hurricane and hurricane-force winds.

"This storm gave us hurricane-force winds, but it's a kind of a misnomer as far as referring to it as a hurricane," he said. "A hurricane is a tropical storm that develops in warm waters."