**Updated at 11:04 a.m., Friday, May 18**

More than 7,000 Manitoba Hydro customers were without power this morning for nearly an hour.

The outage affected a widespread area of Winkler, Plum Coulee, and surrounding rural areas.

Bruce Owen, media relations officer with Manitoba Hydro says the outage is due to a broken cross-arm on one of their poles, which was the result of a pole fire. "At this time of year we're seeing a number of pole fires, and it can be caused by moisture in the system, and some of the equipment is getting quite old making it susceptible to this type of malfunction," said Owen.

The following is an update received from Manitoba Hydro at 11:10 am.

· Winkler restored at 8:49 a.m.

· Most customers in Plum Coulee restored at 8:57 a.m.

· Remaining customers in Plum Coulee will remain off until our repairs to damaged pole are complete. Estimated time of restoration is approximately 2 hours from now.

· We have a few calls in Gretna area we are addressing.

Meantime, to report an outage in your area, Owen asks people to do so online as it allows them to dispatch crews much quicker.

A map outlining the areas that were affected by this morning's outage. Manitoba Hydro updates the map on its website approximately every 15 minutes