Burst pipes, no water — and still staying: Life for Pimicikamak Cree Nation's holdouts

george gilbert aime murphy Trout paces through and through his living elbow room as plumbers scamper shoot down the hallway to attend to yet another burst water pipe in Pimicikamak Cree Nation.

Murky water filled the crawl space beneath his house and spilled into his backyard as Trout came to grips with the reality he wouldn’t have running water for the foreseeable future.

Then there's the worry the flooding will cause mould to fester, but that fear didn't change where he'd spend the night.

"There's nowhere else to stay," he said Wednesday.

"I have to stay as long as there's a roof," he quipped.

While 4,000 people were forced out of Pimicikamak by a four-day power outage and subsequent plumbing issues, Trout's story exemplifies why the return for many evacuees to the northern First Nation may take weeks, and why some aren't going anywhere.

The people who are choosing to stay could be considered holdouts — they're either dealing with water and sewage issues at their own property, or helping someone who is, it seems.

"We have come across some homes that have been lucky, but it's far and few," said Todd McConnell, a plumber brought into to Pimicikamak to help the local tradespeople working 12-hour days or longer.

Pimicikamak has endured a lot: after going days without power while temperatures sunk below -30 C in late December, many homes are facing potentially weeks without running water.

Frigid temperatures when the power was out caused the pipes to freeze, then burst once the newly thawed water pushed against the still-frozen pipe.

That is what Trout faced. After initially leaving the community, he and his wife returned to Pimicikamak last weekend because his wife was returning to her health care job.

It's estimated hundreds of homes are damaged, but a more precise number isn't available because McConnell says there's not enough workers yet to survey the destruction.

At least 200 homes are considered unlivable.

"We won't know the full damage until we see a thaw, right?" said federal Northern and Arctic Affairs Minister Rebecca Chartrand, who got a tour of the community Wednesday with other politicians and Indigenous leaders.

Plumbers offered a stark warning.

"It's going to be a considerable amount of weeks, if not months, to repair everything, get them online. We are trying to go for essential [people] first, being seniors and children, and then moving on," McConnell said.

Morris McKay's home escaped the damage that afflicted many of his neighbours. He credits the wood stove in his basement with preventing the plumbing at his home from freezing.

Still, the power outage was tough to endure. He had only a space heater to heat his living room, while a pail became his family's toilet.

He's since turned his home, equipped with heat and running water, into a safe haven for his family members who aren't as fortunate.

He notices his grandson Aidan running through the living room. He scoops him up into his arms.

"One of the reasons why I didn't want to leave," he said.

Two doors down, his nephews are living in a home where dirty dishes are piling up because the bottled water is scarce. Cloudy water has backed up from the sink, pooling atop the basin.

"It's very hard on us, deep down," McKay said.

"Sometimes I break down in private … I don't show it to my family."

He stayed in Pimicikamak when wildfires forced a month-long evacuation of the First Nation last summer, and he's staying again to support his family.

For Edith Blacksmith, her focus has shifted to her neighbours, as she oversees the food hampers being distributed to residents in need.

The elementary school teacher feels a duty to help, but even as her own home escaped damage, she said she doesn't feel lucky because so many others are struggling.

She emptied her personal freezer to help feed others.

"I donated my meat, I donated my dry goods of what I had at home," she said.

"Whoever came and asked me for something to have, I provided that for them. I didn't turn them back."

For now, Pimicikamak Chief David Monias says his community with an on-reserve population of 7,000 cannot support the evacuees' return. They want to save remaining accommodations for the tradespeople, as well as the military personnel expected to arrive this weekend.

"If you come home and your home is not fixed, you'll have no water, no heat, there's no place to put you here," Monias said in a Facebook video.

"Bear with us," the chief insisted, "allow us to fix it for you."

Manitoba First Nation needs plumbers due to frozen water disaster

Provincial affairs reporter

---

---