First school closures announced for Tuesday, road restrictions remain Monday night
CBC News | Posted: February 13, 2017 8:45 PM | Last Updated: February 14, 2017
CBC meteorologist Kalin Mitchell estimates 80 cm of snow will fall in some New Brunswick communities
Some schools in southern New Brunswick will close for the second day in a row after a major blizzard paralyzed parts of the province on Monday.
The Anglophone South and Anglophone East school districts announced on Monday evening that schools will remain closed on Feb. 14.
Mount Allison University will also close for the morning on Tuesday but the campus will reopen at 12:30 p.m., with classes starting at 1 p.m.
Snow continued to fall well into the night as New Brunswickers in the central part of the province braced for roughly 80 centimetres of snow.
Travel warning
Blizzard conditions also prompted the province to issue a strict travel warning for southern and central areas.
"Until further notice travel on provincial highways and roads is restricted to emergency vehicles and essential service personnel," said the provincial government.
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Restrictions are in place for Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton districts, including Kent, Westmorland, Albert, Kings, Queens, Sunbury, York, Saint John and Charlotte counties.
The Trans-Canada Highway is closed between Sackville and the Nova Scotia border until further notice because of poor visibility caused by high winds and blowing snow, according to the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure.
Highway 15 between Shediac and Port Elgin has also been closed due to poor visibility and drifting snow.
As well, snowplowing on other sections of Routes 1 and 2 has been suspended until conditions improve.
As of 6:45 p.m., the Confederation Bridge was closed to all traffic.
80 cm of snow expected
Kalin Mitchell, a CBC meteorologist, said he expects 50 to 80 centimetres will fall in areas between Oromocto and Quispamsis.
Base Gagetown, just outside New Brunswick's capital city, already received 68 centimetres. Mitchell said 44 centimetres fell between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. AT.
"This is likely to be one of the hardest-hit areas for snowfall amounts from this storm," said Mitchell.
Flights have been cancelled until Tuesday at airports in Fredericton, Moncton and Saint John.
Much of Fredericton was shut down on Monday as plows tried to keep main streets open.
But in spite of early warnings to stay off the roads, towing companies got a steady volume of calls from people who ventured out.
'Nobody needs to get hurt on a day like today'
Allan MacPhee of Capital Towing said his company could not respond to many of the calls. He said they followed a "selective towing" protocol on Monday for the safety of their employees.
"Only those areas that are safe," he said. "Only those places that we can get to and guarantee ourselves we can get back out of.
"Our employees are probably our biggest asset. Nobody needs to get hurt on a day like today. There's always tomorrow."
He estimates his trucks responded to about 25 per cent of the calls they received.
MacPhee said the majority of calls have been from people who overestimated the power and clearance of their vehicles and got stuck.