Thousands of Ontario residents remain without power after intense weekend snow storms closed major highways and prompted one town in the Muskokas to declare a state of emergency after being hit with 140 centimetres of snow.
Gravenhurst Mayor Heidi Lorenz declared the
state of emergency at 2:30 a.m. on Dec. 1 due to the substantial snowfall and the prolonged closure of Highway 11 that left some motorists stranded overnight in their vehicles.
An “all-hands-on-deck” rescue operation continued into the afternoon with Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), paramedics, and firefighters using snowmobiles and other off-road recreational vehicles to transport stranded motorists to area shelters, OPP Central Region said in a social media
post.
Livestock trucks transporting horses were among the vehicles stranded during the storm.
“Please be assured that OPP escorted these trucks off the highway and have provided hay and water to the horses as needed,” police said in a weekend
post.Although the snow abated late in the day on Dec. 1 after more than two days of continuous snowfall, the cleanup is far from over.
Premier Doug Ford said the province was “working closely” with local authorities in Gravenhurst and across the Muskoka region to help them respond to the storm.
“Provincial resources are on hand and more are en route to help where needed,” Ford said in a Dec. 1
statement.
“As cleanup crews continue their work, the best thing people in the area can do is stay home and stay safe until power is restored and roads and highways have been safely opened again.”
Hydro One
said its crews are continuing to restore power “as quickly and safely as possible” but have been hampered by road closures in the area. Most customers are expected to have power restored tonight although some may be waiting until the early morning hours of Dec. 3, according to the Hydro One
outage map.
Highway 11 remains closed in both directions between Highway 60 in Huntsville and West Street in Orillia, OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said in a
video posted to Facebook early Dec. 2.
Vehicles trapped by the snowfall have all been removed and plowing remains underway, he said.
“We understand the frustration that motorists are having as a result of this,” Schmidt said. “We are just waiting for the highway to be made safe for all traffic to start travelling on it.”
Digging Out
Cleanup is also continuing in the town of Gravenhurst, but abandoned vehicles and downed trees and limbs are impeding progress, the town said.“Since Saturday, the town has cleared more than 50 trees that have fallen across roads,” a Dec. 2
notice said. “Downed hydro lines continue to hamper cleanup efforts as well. While we don’t have an exact count, there have been dozens of instances where hydro lines across roads have slowed our snow removal progress.”
Lorenz called the snow accumulation the town received “astonishing.”
“Like all of you we’ve got all hands on deck at home to dig out from the astonishing amount of snow we’ve received,” the mayor said in a Facebook
post. “Please be safe, courteous and patient. Please check on your neighbours.”
Snow removal resources from Peel and the County of Simcoe are currently on the scene and plows from Vaughan are expected to arrive later in the day, the town said.
“The intent is to get roads open to at least one lane,” the notice said. “The town and its contractors continue with snow cleanup, however people have been going beyond the hours they are allowed to safely work and they have, at times, had to stop to rest.”
Gravenhurst was not the only town to be impacted by the fierce weekend storm. Bracebridge was also hard hit receiving upward of 90 centimetres of snow.
Mayor Rick Maloney shared a video from his home in Stoneleigh, a neighbourhood in Bracebridge.
“There’s probably about three feet of snow,” he said in the Dec. 1 Facebook
video post. “We’ve been without power since Friday.”
He said town crews were staying busy with snow removal and responding to accidents on area roadways.
Schools
are closed across the entire Muskoka region as the area continues to grapple with the impacts of the weekend weather.
Storm Tracks South
School buses have also been cancelled in
London as the winter storm veers south.
Snow squall warnings are in effect for London, Goderich, and Eastern Middlesex, Southern Huron and Northern Huron counties with 30 to 50 centimetres of snow expected by Dec. 3. Accumulation in locations near Lake Huron could exceed 50 centimetres with peak snowfall rates of five to 10 centimetres per hour, Environment Canada
predicted.
Old man winter will also hit further north with 20 to 40 centimetres of snow falling in Barrie, Collingwood, Owen Sound, the Blue Mountains, and Northern Grey and Eastern Lambton counties, according to Environment Canada forecasts.
The federal weather agency is warning of power outages in these regions due to the heavy wet nature of the falling snow and is advising residents to postpone all non-essential travel due to “reduced visibility” and “hazardous” road conditions.
London Police Service and the OPP have put out similar warnings, advising people to stay home if possible.
