By Canadian Press

Man driving to work in snowstorm in Manitoba helps lost elderly man walking

Dec 7, 2016 | 6:00 AM

An elderly Winnipeg man lost in the winter storm slamming southern Manitoba was found safe thanks to a man driving to work.

Winnipeg police sent out a public alert for 82-year-old Charles McAulay on Monday night.

Officers said McAulay was last seen in the Waverly area but may have made his way west to the St. Francois Xavier or Woodlands area of Manitoba.

However, McAulay had actually driven north near Traverse Bay and left his car in a ditch and began walking along the highway in the storm.

Landon Navitka said he was driving to work in Selkirk around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday when he saw someone walking in the middle of the road.

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“It was pretty snowy, pretty icy, a whiteout,” Navitka said. “I saw this was someone not prepared to be out for a walk. I could tell he was not OK.”

Navitka said McAulay was not wearing any winter clothing, just a hooded sweatshirt.

“He was covered in snow and ice, frozen to the bone. It looked like he was out in the cold for a while,” Navitka said.

He asked McAulay if he wanted to get his car and he took him to Traverse Bay Corner Store to notify RCMP that he was found.

“I didn’t feel like I did anything too special, just helped out a fellow human being in need,” he said.

Southern Manitoba is digging out from a big dump of snow that closed highways as people across the Prairies shiver in the season’s first extreme cold snap.

While most highways have reopened, motorists said driving conditions remain treacherous in some areas.

The province announced the Trans-Canada Highway between Headingley and the Saskatchewan border  reopened just before 3 p.m. Wednesday – parts of the highway had been closed since Tuesday morning.

Highway 75 from the perimeter to the U.S. border has also reopened to traffic.

Larry Halayko with Manitoba Infrastructure said the RCMP decided it was safe to open up the roads, but he cautioned visibility is still reduced on some highways.

Provincial snow clearing crews have been working steady for the past 48 hours, Halayko said.

Storm warnings have been replaced with blowing snow advisories in Manitoba on Wednesday with more snow expected.

Temperatures across much of Alberta and Saskatchewan have been near -20 C with wind chill making it feel much colder.

Paramedics say a woman in her 80s died in a Calgary hospital earlier this week after being trapped for at least an hour outside a home near Didsbury in central Alberta.

The bitterly cold air is expected to extend across Manitoba by the end of the week.

(CTV Winnipeg, The Canadian Press)

The Canadian Press