Frozen pipes close schools, leave residents without water

Westgate Collegiate and Vocational Institute and Dryden High School are both closed today in the wake of water supply problems in the area.

The schools will be without water as the repair work is done.

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Westgate Collegiate is expected to re-open Friday, once a nearby water main is repaired and water is turned on in the school again.

Officials with the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board said they will monitor the status of repairs at Dryden High throughout the day, and will decide late Thursday afternoon whether it will remain closed on Friday.

All Westgate buses have been cancelled.

Frozen pipes across northwest

Meanwhile, communities across northwestern Ontario are struggling to deal with a rash of frozen water pipes.

Extremely cold weather has left public works crews from Kenora to Manitouwadge working overtime.

In Kenora, the city has received about 50 calls for service in the past two weeks alone. Residents on a waiting list can expect to be without water service for another one to two weeks.

"This is absolutely the worst (year), and anybody you speak to in operations, or any part of the city [will say] it's definitely the worst in any of our years of history," said Heather Kasprick, communications officer with the city of Kenora.