CLASSIFIEDSADVERTISINGSPECIAL ISSUESONLINE SPORTSOBITUARIESNORTHERN JOBSTENDERS

NNSL Photo/Graphic


Canadian North

Home page text size buttonsbigger textsmall textText size Email this articleE-mail this page

Blizzard pounds Kivalliq
Three-day blizzard will be remembered for its intensity

Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Wednesday, March 25, 2015

RANKIN INLET
One of the worst blizzards in decades pounded most of the Kivalliq from March 15 to 17.

NNSL photo/graphic

A truck passes below a group of children playing atop mammoth snow banks on each side of a single lane to the Rankin Inlet airport following a threeday blizzard that rocked the community this past week. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo

The three-day storm packed consistent winds of 90 km/h, with gusts going from 110 to near 120 km/h at times.

Jason Todd said Rankin Inlet has been hit with longer blizzards but he doesn't remember any with winds as harsh as this one for a long, long time.

He said there was absolute zero visibility at the height of the storm and he couldn't believe how vicious the blizzard proved to be.

"It, literally, shook my house to the point where I honestly thought the roof was going to come off," said Todd.

"Normally I will go out during a blizzard but I didn't step outside for three days in this one.

"We've had some bad storms during the past 10 years, but this one was unreal."

Todd said the community dealt with the blizzard as best it could.

He said every blizzard is different but people always need to have heat, food, water and power to get through them OK.

"I lost power a few times, but you learn to have a flashlight, candles, that kind of stuff, available.

"This was a bad storm, and I don't think too many people tried to go outside during the first or second day.

"On a scale of 10, I would rate this blizzard as an eight or 8.5.

"It was nothing to mess with and I'm just glad everyone came through it unharmed."

Darrin Nichol said the blizzard was definitely a dangerous storm.

He said he had a feeling of apprehension earlier in the day before the blizzard struck because of the strange way events were playing out.

"It was so mild earlier in the day, we had freezing rain that, for a little while, might even have been just rain," said Nichol.

"Then the fresh snow started falling and, knowing Baker Lake was already being pounded, I just knew we were in for a bad one.

"This was the worst we've had in at least the past 15 years, I'd say.

"It was really intense for three days and it just didn't abate at all."

Nichol said he lost power at his house a couple of times during the storm, and things got a little tense among his wife and three kids.

He said the big story is Community and Government Services, the Nunavut Power Corp. and the hamlet keeping everything going through a very bad blizzard.

"I remember the '97 fall storm and a couple of other ones that were worse than this.

"But I'd say this was the worst my kids (two aged 19 and one 17) remember.

"I didn't really have any worries about my house, because it's been around a long time and seen its share of storms.

"Anyone who was here for this storm, or any of the other communities that got hit, is going to remember it for a while, that's for certain."

E-mailWe welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.