There’s a plan in place out at Regina’s landfill to try and limit trash from going airborne with wicked wind.
“If we were up on top of the hill and you’re talking of gusts of 90 to 100 (kilometres), it can take a sheet of plywood and it can throw it a long distance so for sure it’s a major concern for us so we’re watching for that all the time,” said the city’s manager of landfill operations Greg Jelinski.
He said they’ve moved their active tipping face — or the area where garbage is dropped off — to keep it as tight as possible. That area is strategically positioned so that hills partially surrounding it help block out the wind out of the west.
In addition, a total of 50 portable litter fences were moved to surround that area to help keep rogue garbage at bay.
Finally, before crews leave for the day, a layer of soil will be used to cover and weigh down the trash.
“Our concern is flying debris. Gotta worry about our customers’ and our employees’ safety so we’ll minimize everything there,” he said.
Jelinski said they’ve had to close down the dump once already this year because of gusty wind. While it remains an option this time, based on the forecast he figured the most powerful wind will come later at night when the landfill is already closed.
SaskPower reminds people to be safe
SaskPower is preparing to deal with the possibility of downed power lines.
The Crown corporation is getting technicians and electricians in communities in southern and central Saskatchewan ready to deal with potentially broken poles, downed lines, fallen trees and outages.
The strong winds can cause power lines to sway back and forth and come in contact with each other.
SaskPower is encouraging people to have an outage kit prepared for outages. These kits can include bottled water, non-perishable food, blankets, a flashlight with fresh batteries and a first-aid kit.
SaskPower will communicate all outages via Twitter.
The Crown also reminds people it is critical they stay away from downed power lines, even if they don’t appear to be active.