Intense Ontario snow strands vehicles, knocks out power as town calls emergency
Gravenhurst, in Ontario's cottage country, hit with 140 cm of snow
Plows were working Monday to clear a closed stretch of a main highway in Ontario's cottage country after intense snow squalls battered parts of the region over the weekend, stranding motorists and prompting one town to declare a state of emergency.
Ontario Provincial Police said they are working with the Ministry of Transportation toward reopening Highway 11 to traffic. Officials were forced to close a nearly 100 km expanse of the highway between Orillia and Highway 60 in Huntsville after a winter storm rendered it impassable.
Vehicles trapped by the snowfall had to be safely removed before plowing could begin, the OPP said.
"We understand the frustration that motorists are having as a result of this," Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said early Monday.
Gravenhurst, a town in Muskoka hit with around 140 centimetres of snowfall, declared a state of emergency early Sunday.
"This is the most snow I've seen in the 27 years that I've lived here, in such a short period of time," Gravenhurst Mayor Heidi Lorenz said in an interview.
The closure of Highway 11 had separated parts of the town from plows and emergency services on Saturday, prompting the state of emergency declaration, she said.
"It was a perfect disaster."
Plow reinforcements were called in and skies started clear later Sunday after more than two days of nearly relentless snowfall.
The shifting winds offered relief to hard-hit communities but threatened to deliver snow squalls to areas further south, toward the Bruce Peninsula and London areas.
Premier Doug Ford said the province was working closely with local authorities to help them respond to the storm. Ford said he was relieved no injuries or deaths had been reported.
"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," he said in a statement posted to social media.
Snowmobile-riding first responders took to otherwise impassable roads to help rescue people from stranded vehicles around Muskoka, police said. The OPP said some had been stuck overnight on Saturday.
Those who requested help had been pulled from the highway by Sunday morning as work continued into the afternoon to tow the last abandoned cars, said Brooklyn Harker, media relations co-ordinator for the OPP's Central Region.
The focus turned to combing through side roads to check for anyone who needed help, she said.
Some truck drivers chose to brave the night in vehicles fitted for long haul trips, said Lorenz, the Gravenhurst mayor. Rescued motorists were sent to local shelters, including Gravenhurst Town Hall, at times powered by generators as widespread power outages hit the area.
Hydro One, the provincial utility, reported that the number of customers without power was around 35,000 by Sunday afternoon, down from more than 60,000 earlier in the day.
'Very caring community' takes action
About nine groups took refuge at the town hall in scenes Lorenz said recalled "Come from Away," the hit musical based on the experience of a Newfoundland town taking in thousands of airline passengers diverted by the 9/11 attacks.
A local restaurant brought food, while movies were shown on council chamber screens to help entertain kids until hotel rooms were arranged for those who took shelter at the town hall. Firefighters helped act as "sort of chauffeurs" to help get people and supplies where they needed to go, Lorenz said.
"The people here — and I'm sure it sounds like I'm overstating — but they're remarkable. We have a very caring community," she said.
The Trillium Lakelands District School Board which runs public school education for students in central Ontario announced Sunday that all of their schools and child care centres in Muskoka will be closed on Monday and classes will not be moving online.
Blowing snow off Lake Huron also overwhelmed communities along the lake's eastern shores, temporarily shuttering roads and transit operations in some cities. Sault Ste. Marie and Bracebridge, two of the other hardest-hit communities, were both digging out from more than a metre of snow, Environment Canada said.
As the winds shifted, the weather office issued snow squall warnings for a swath of southwestern Ontario on Sunday.
Environment Canada warned that areas around London, the Bruce Peninsula and Collingwood could see more than 30 centimetres of snow by Tuesday.
With files from The Canadian Press