Violent weekend storm batters River Heights in south Winnipeg
Posted September 7, 2026 4:16 pm.
Many residents of River Heights in south Winnipeg are recovering from a violent storm that ripped through the city Sunday evening.
Over 4000 residents remained without power till Monday afternoon with Manitoba Hydro saying that outages expected to last longer.
“I knew something was happening, but I’m like, this seems worse than I anticipated it to be,” said Luca Morin, a River Heights resident.
Residents in the area of Borebank Street and Mathers Avenue, one of the hardest hit, say the storm ripped through around 6:30 p.m. Sunday, with some saying they ran to their basements for cover.
“I go out, and I’m like ‘oh my god! there’s a tree that makes the tree here look small in comparison, and there’s just this giant tree in the middle and the entire street is flooded because the tree is blocking the the drain on the side that’s closer to grant.”
Marie Gordon, who lives on Borebank Street, says she feels lucky not to have been home when the storm hit.
“I was soaking wet, because I had to be dropped at the corner, so I had to make it into the house, but my neighbour was out here and she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. It must have been horrendous to be here,” said Gordon, another River Heights resident.
Debris and fallen trees could be seen everywhere in the area Monday, as well as downed power lines, and damaged vehicles. Dozens of Manitoba Hydro workers were also at the scene, working to repair the severe damage.
Residents in River Heights haven’t had power since last night.
“I think it’s making us realize that we need to be more prepared at home with power banks and potentially a generator, I know I talked to my neighbours and they’re all saying ‘yeah, maybe we should start investing in those types of things,'” said Jennifer Macrae.
Manitoba Hydro spokesperson Peter Churo told CityNews that they are still assessing damage and will have a clearer picture as they get further into repairs, but residents should expect extended outages potentially into Tuesday, and maybe longer.
For people like Macrae, it can’t come soon enough.
“We’re lucky we have relatives we can go stay with on the other side of town who do have power, so that’s what we’re doing right now, packing up,” Macrae said.
“But after a long weekend out spending time with family and stuff like that, to come home to this and to have to get ready to go back to school right now and all of that, it’s trying to say the least.”
