The sun may be shining but a state of emergency will remain in effect today for the City of St. John’s to allow city crews to conduct a “massive cleanup” of snow-blocked streets, Mayor Danny Breen said in a media update this morning.
That means businesses are to remain closed and all vehicles off the streets — including private snow-clearing contractors and taxis. The only vehicles permitted are emergency vehicles and those transporting essential staff to work.
“The roads right now, it’s fair to say, are impassable,” Breen said. “We have some with one lane open, but we need to really get the streets open and there’s a lot of work that needs to be done, and our staff have started the process here today.
“It’s very important to keep vehicles off the roads so employees can do their work in getting the streets reopened.”
Breen said the city is receiving great co-operation from the provincial and federal governments. The St. John’s Port Authority has allowed the city to dump snow in the harbour on an interim basis to help with snow-clearing efforts.
The massive snow storm shut down much of the Avalon and Bonavista Peninsulas with a state of emergency called in many communities.
According to Environment Canada, St. John’s International Airport recorded a new all-time daily snowfall record Friday of 76.2 cm. The previous record was 68.4 cm on April 5, 1999. Records began to be documented in 1942.
St. John’s Regional Fire Department Chief Sherry Colford said the five people evacuated out of the Battery neighbourhood of St. John’s Friday night — after a snow avalanche damaged their home — were given accommodations through Canadian Red Cross.
Other residents of the Battery decided to stay in their homes after being offered accommodations if they wanted to leave.
“The call came in around 5 p.m. and it took us about three hours to be able to get into them,” Colford said during the media update. “The city was phenominal in bringing in plows and blowers to get as close as we could, but then firefighters ended up having to walk in and go door to door. There was just nowhere to put the snow.
“It was just to give (residents) a heads-up that there were accommodations being made available if they wished to leave their home, and then we waited until the plows were able to get so far through. It was about 11 p.m. by the time they were able to get out of that area.”
It was a challenging call for firefighters in an area with its narrow streets.
“One of the captains said it was the hardest he’s ever worked in his career, and he’s been with the fire department 25-27 years,” Colford said. “And the Battery is a challenging area for us anyway, for accessibility. With the extreme amount of snow we had (Friday), that made it a lot harder. I commend our crews, they were pretty determined to get in there.”
Dr. Brian Metcalfe with Eastern Health said while it was reported that one patient was transported to hospital via snowmobile, he said the majority of patients coming to the emergency rooms Friday did so by ambulance.
“There was one case widely reported regarding a snowmobile transporting a patient to the hospital. I don’t have any specific information on this, and we respect patient privacy and wouldn’t be commenting on specific patient matters,” Metcalfe said. “We completed a very large number of transport in trying conditions.
“We put processes in place to provide services throughout the storm and recovery phase of storm. Staff were working hard throughout the night to provide care, trying to provide the highest level of care, especially with essential services.”
Metcalfe said dispatchers continued to receive 911 calls and responded to medical emergencies as usual.
“We have changed our triage process somewhat and have an enhanced the triage process, where we are now taking a more detailed look at the calls coming in and assigning resources so that patients who have more severe and time-sensitive health issues are prioritized,” he said.
“We have a limited number of resources and obviously a lot of demand on those resources so we are trying to use those as smart and as efficiently as we can.”
Metcalfe suggests options for patients who need medical advice but do not require immediate transport to emergency departments can avail of the HealthLine at 811 or 1-888-709-3555, or the Mental Health Crisis Line at 737-4668 or 1-888-737-4668.
Colford also asks people to only call 911 or immediate response from police, fire or ambulance.
“We have gotten calls of people asking if we could send someone to shovel out their driveway,” she said. “We do understand people are concerned. Everyone is pretty blocked in with the snow, but we ask that if people call 911 it is for immediate emergency.”
Meantime many people are still without power in the St. John's area and across the Northeast Avalon, Burin and Bonavista peninsulas, Clarenville-Sunnyside areas, and areas in Central Newfoundland.
Newfoundland Power Tweeted this afternoon: "Our crews are out, patrolling by foot where necessary, to assess storm damage. Heavy snow drifts and narrow roads are making getting around tough. They’re on it, working hard to restore power safely! Thanks for everyone’s continued support."
An earlier Tweet: "Blowing snow and high snow drifts are an issue in many areas, making working conditions challenging. We appreciate our customers ongoing support and understanding as our crews work to restore power as safely and quickly as possible."
Environment Canada update this afternoon:
TOTAL SNOWFALL (IN CENTIMETRES):
MOUNT PEARL: 93
PARADISE: 91
ST. JOHN'S EAST: 82
ST. JOHN'S INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: 77
LETHBRIDGE: 48
GANDER WEST: 35
GANDER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: 34
ST. LAWRENCE: 31
MAXIMUM WIND GUSTS (IN KILOMETRES PER HOUR):
GREEN ISLAND, FORTUNE BAY: 171
BONAVISTA: 164
GRATES COVE: 156
HEART'S DELIGHT-ISLINGTON: 156
CAPE PINE: 146
GREEN ISLAND, TRINITY BAY: 145
TWILLINGATE: 140
ST. JOHN'S - DOHENEY PLACE: 134
ST. JOHN'S - EAST WHITE HILLS: 132
ST-PIERRE: 130
ST. JOHN'S - DOCKYARD: 129
PASS ISLAND: 126
ALLAN'S ISLAND: 116
HOLYROOD: 114
BISHOP'S COVE: 113
RAMEA: 109
ST. LAWRENCE: 106
BURGEO: 105
ST. JOHN'S WEST: 105
DEER PARK: 101
NORTH HARBOUR: 101
GANDER: 97
