Last week’s storm ended up cutting the power to many West Central residents for some time. The Town of Kyle was hit especially hard, with some reporting having lost power for over two days. 

One place that was particularly affected by the lengthy blackout was Kyle’s CO-OP Food Store. They were without power from about 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday and didn’t come back until approximately 4:15 p.m. on Friday. 

Soon after the power went out, the store had to follow a few of its health and safety policies, which resulted in some hefty losses. 

Store Manager Scott Rein explained. 

“Because of Public Health guidelines, we are instructed to throw it out so the public is assured that there is 100 per cent compliance and that whatever they’re buying is 100 per cent good, so that when they get it home, it is not only eatable, but no one will get sick from it, and we follow the public health guidelines very close because of it.” 

In terms of losses, Rein added that they had to throw out all of their perishables. That includes their milk, produce, frozen items, and dairy. 

Fortunately, it wasn’t too long before the store began to recover. 

“Thanks to Federated CO-OP, we were able to organize an emergency truck for Saturday morning, 6 am delivery, and we are now back up to about 75 to 80 per cent capacity on all of our perishables, with more coming tomorrow morning, and we should be back to 100 per cent by Tuesday at noon.” 

Rein expressed his thanks to Federated CO-OP for their help and added that they have been helping other locations in the area as they deal with similar challenges. 

Rein also wished to send his thanks to a group that stepped up to help the people of Kyle. 

“The Matador Hutterite Colony stepped up in a huge way, and they prepared hot meals for the community of Kyle. Breakfasts and suppers and they were delivered by themselves, and also by the emergency coordinator for the town of Kyle, Leanne Pederson. She and many volunteers stepped up to help check on seniors, and assure that they were ok in the cold houses that were throughout the community.” 

So while the store caused a fair bit of hardship for the people of Kyle, it also provided yet another opportunity for generous individuals to lend a hand.