March 20, 2010
CBC News
Rescue efforts were expected Saturday to retrieve dozens of people stuck on winter roads in Manitoba's north that unexpectedly turned to mush and became impassable, officials say.
Photo: A 29-year-old truck driver was rescued Thursday by helicopter after RCMP located him on a road about 65 kilometres south of Oxford House. (RCMP)
It is estimated that 81 people — including about a dozen who were thought to be missing earlier in the week — are stuck on roads. Most are in the trucking industry.
'Everybody was waving like they were on a desert island and you found them.'—George Leonard, Manitoba search and rescue
On Friday concerns were raised about a group of 12 who were stranded near the community of Wrong Lake. It was believed they had made their way to Thunderbird Lodge, a fishing resort near the lake, about 350 kilometres north of Winnipeg. But when that was checked out, no one was there.
On Saturday morning, it was reported that the group had joined up with a larger convoy of transport trucks that have been trying to make their way from the Island Lake area to the Bloodvein First Nation.
An official from Manitoba search and rescue says the convoy is facing mud that is about half a metre deep.
"I found one huge mess up on the winter road," George Leonard told CBC News. He says he was in a helicopter on Friday to survey the situation and deliver some relief supplies, including food and water.
"I saw a bunch of very tired, very happy — and some very desperate — people on the winter road that have been basically surviving on their own for the last four and five days."
Leonard said they couldn't pick anyone up because they didn't have room, although he said he was prepared to stay behind to make room if someone needed to be transported out for urgent medical treatment.
Leonard said when the group spotted his helicopter, it was clear the stranded motorists and truckers were happy to see him.
"Everybody was waving like they were on a desert island and you found them," he said. "I left some food for them and water and everybody's happy."
Rescues planned for Saturday
Leonard said work would begin Saturday on getting people out.
"The road is just impassable," he added. "The vehicles are just so beat up and just covered in ice."
Some of the rigs are so damaged they may be left behind, according to one man from a Winnipeg-based trucking company who was able to get some supplies to people on Friday.
Mark Kohaykewych told CBC News that he was able to drive a pickup truck to the area.
He went across frozen portions of Lake Winnipeg and then met a part of the convoy between Bloodvein and Saint Theresa Point.
"It was white-knuckle [driving]," he said. In some spots, he said water and muskeg was reaching the doors of the truck.
Kohaykewych said he was able to deliver some sandwiches to people and saw, first-hand, the damage done to some trucks.
"The twisted mangled metal. I mean, trucks completely destroyed," he said. "There are trucks that are going to be left behind, that muskeg was so deep."
"Some are completely written off, beyond repair," he added. A few rigs were trapped with mud reaching the axles. In some cases equipment was encased in a half-metre-thick coating of mud and ice.
Emergencies declared
Sixteen First Nations across northern Manitoba have declared states of emergency because they're low on food, fuel, and other supplies.
Their predicament was triggered by the early thaw of winter roads, leaving supply trucks stuck in thick mud.
During a stop in Brandon, Man., on Friday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised federal support to get supplies to the affected communities.
But Ron Evans, head of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, says the dire situation clearly shows that permanent all-weather roads are needed.
Some of the truckers had started their runs to the north eight days ago when winter roads were still firm and open for use.
By Monday, however, conditions were changing rapidly as mild weather thawed the muskeg.
"They've never seen it like this," Kohaykewych said. "Everybody I talked to said they didn't expect [road conditions] to turn so quickly."
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2010/03/20/mb-northern-winter-roads-stranded-mud.html