Manitoba Hydro staff have been running hard this week clearing ice from power lines. This Hydro employee was knocking hoarfrost off a line three miles west of Miami, Man., Thursday (Dec. 17) afternoon. Power outages have occurred in many areas of Manitoba, especially in south-central and western regions. In some cases transmission lines have been damaged, while in others Manitoba Hydro has turned the power off so staff could clear the lines. Some people on social media have reported being without electricity for 12 hours.

Need for more disaster planning in rural Manitoba

A seminar Jan. 14 in Portage la Prairie will look at how the risk environment is changing in rural Manitoba

Just as it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a community to prepare for disaster. The Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM) and the Manitoba governments Emergency Measures Organization (EMO) want input from municipal leaders, emergency co-ordinators, rural businesses and ordinary citizens on how best to prepare for climate change in the face

(Eggs.ca)

Iowa declares state of emergency over avian flu

Reuters — Iowa Governor Terry Branstad declared a state of emergency on Friday due to a rapidly expanding avian flu outbreak. State agriculture officials on Friday announced four more poultry farms — a million-bird commercial egg laying operation and three turkey farms — have initially tested positive for an H5 strain of the virus. “While