Stranded family in northern Quebec rescued by Hydro workers

The members of a Cree family in the James Bay region of Quebec are counting their lucky stars after being stranded in a car overnight on Christmas day in a howling snow storm.

Alice Pepabano, 27, her four year old daughter Isabella, brother Tyrone and sister Trifona left the community of Chisasibi, 17 hours north of Montreal, at 1 p.m. on Dec. 25 to go visit family in Nemaska.

The trip normally takes about five or six hours, but it took more than 24 hours and a snowmobile search and rescue by Hydro Québec workers at the nearby Eastmain 1 (EM-1) Hydroelectric complex. 

When the family left Chisasibi it was snowing already, but the conditions were okay.

"It was already snowing, but just a little bit," Pepabano says.

She didn't have a shovel or emergency supplies in the car except for sandwiches, but she did have a hockey stick. She says the stick came in handy when they got stuck on the access road to Eastmain-1.

"I noticed the weather got worse and the wind had picked up, so I said to my brother Tyrone, let's turn around and sleep at the (rest stop) Relais-Routier at kilometre 381 on the James Bay Highway," Pepabano says.

The group had just turned around from a planned stop and visit with Isabella's father Nicky, who works there at Eastmain-1, when they got stuck. After digging themselves out with the hockey stick they made it another 18 kilometres before getting stuck a second time in a clearing. 

"There were no trees and out in the open and the wind was strong and that was a snow drift and that's where we got stuck," says Pepabano. "We tried to get out of the snow, the snow was about three feet high. Our pants were wet and we were cold, so we decided to give up and get back in the car." 

Family started to worry when car stuck in metre deep snow

After drying their clothes on the car heater they tried again to dig themselves out but it didn't work. 

It was at that point Pepabano says she started to worry.

"The kids were fine, but (me and Tyrone) were worried and started pondering what to do next. We got stuck a second time around 7:30 in the evening and we were only found in the afternoon the next day". 

There is no cellular service in that area. Alice's family had begun posting on a James Bay Highway road conditions Facebook page and by the next morning, Isabella's father Nicky had left Eastmain-1 with some of his colleagues to look for the family.

Alice says she breathed a sigh of relief, when she saw someone approaching the car around 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 26.

" I was really happy to see someone coming, I was about to take a nap, the gas went down fast so I told my brother I'll sleep before we ran out of gas because we won't be able to sleep after, I also prayed and asked God to please send someone to rescue us, take care of us and keep us from being cold." 

The family was taken one by one by snowmobile to the main highway and then to Eastmain-1. 

Travellers urged to take precautions when travelling in remote areas

The Fire Chief of the nearby community of Eastmain says people like Pepabano need to be more aware of the weather conditions before they set out. 

"As community emergency departments, we can't just deploy rescue and search team, during heavy winter storms. We don't want to put our emergency and rescue workers at risk," says Roger Weapenicappo.

When Pepabano finally saw her family everyone cried with tears of joy and hugged. She says she learned an important lesson that day. 

"I would recommend to travel with a satellite phone or On-Star to be installed," she says.

"Always travel with a blanket during winter, warm clothes especially snow pants, something to eat and drink, maybe a shovel too and an emergency kit for the vehicle or even a tarp."

She also wants to remind travellers how important it is to call or text someone when you leave your destination and tell them where you are headed.

"Because you never know what might happen and your family could get very worried."