Strong winds wallop Alberta

Last Updated: Saturday, January 31, 2009 4:43 PM MT Comments12Recommend8

The Canadian Press

Heavy winds knocked out power and downed trees throughout Alberta on Friday night.

Environment Canada issued wind warnings for several regions of the province in Friday, saying a cold front was producing very strong winds as it tracked east.

Power crews worked through the night to restore electricity to approximately 10,000 customers in some areas of Alberta, after winds gusting up to 100 km/h knocked down trees and power lines.

Jennifer MacGowan, a spokesperson for Calgary-based power supplier FortisAlberta, said power outages stretched from Athabasca, 146 kilometres north of Edmonton, to central Alberta.

"I have to say that Mother Nature was our toughest customer last night," McGowan said.

"The cause [of the outage] was mainly due to the windstorm and trees coming down on our lines. In some cases we actually had to rebuild poles that came down with the wind."

As of Saturday afternoon, power had been restored to most Fortis customers, though crews were still working to get the lights back on for some rural customers near Drayton Valley, 145 kilometres southwest of Edmonton, McGowan said.

Tim le Riche, a spokesperson for Epcor which supplies electricity to customers in Edmonton, said at the height of the storm, power was out to eight areas of the city.

Crews worked through the night and power was restored to the last of Epcor's customers around 7 a.m. Saturday, he said.