Power has been out for much of Wednesday in parts of Délı̨nę, N.W.T.

The problem was caused by an overloaded feeder line, ekw’ahtı̨dǝ́ (Chief) Daniel Gaudet told CBC.

“We’re checking on each and every person that’s there,” Gaudet said.

“We had a good wood stove program years ago, so the majority of the houses have wood stoves. We’re just making sure that they’re OK.”

The government also set up a warming centre at the cultural centre, he added, and asked staff to organize food for people.

The power went out at around 9:30 a.m., Gaudet said.

According to Environment Canada weather data, it was –38 C at 9 a.m.

The Northwest Territories Power Corporation posted a notice on its Facebook page later in the morning saying it was aware of a series of partial outages in the community.

It initially announced that a line crew would be in Délı̨nę before 1 p.m.

However, it later posted an update saying that the aircraft carrying the repair crew had had to return to Fort Simpson because of an engine issue, and a new flight was scheduled for 4:40 p.m.

Délı̨nę resident Caroline Yukon said Wednesday afternoon that she had a wood stove, but her house was still chilly, and she worried about her pipes freezing and bursting.

“Oh my God, I got up this morning. My house was, like, cold,” Yukon said. 

“So I had to call my son, and he came in and made a fire for me in the wood stove. So I was saved.”

She went to get groceries, but both stories were closed, she said.

So she had to get food from her daughter-in-law’s house.

The community has faced similar situations in the past, Gaudet said, and he’s grateful that people pull together and support each other.

“One of the things I hear people talk about when the power goes out is that they just [for the] first time actually experience that it’s really quiet,” he said.