'You couldn't see a thing'
Published Tuesday February 24th, 2009
Fredericton is still digging out from a mega weather bomb.
The intense system that dropped more than 40 centimetres of snow on the capital city in less than 12 hours late Sunday night and into Monday is being described as the worst of its kind in a generation.
What seemed like a mountain of snow, hurled about by strong winds, brought the entire area to a near standstill.
Government offices shut down, schools and businesses closed and people had to wait hours for their streets and roads to be plowed. It may be days before all the sidewalks are cleared.
David Phillips, Environment Canada's senior climatologist, said nearly a month's worth of snow fell in a few hours.
"If we ever had degrees of bombs, this is a mega bomb," Phillips said. "That is when the system explodes."
Weather bombs occur when systems intensify and atmospheric pressure drops - resulting in conditions getting stronger, more ferocious and intense over a short period.
So far this month, more than 90 centimetres of snow has fallen. The normal amount for February is about 50 centimetres.
Phillips said Fredericton hasn't had this much snow in such a short time since Jan. 30, 1990, when 43.5 centimetres fell.
"The granddaddy of them all was Dec. 4, 1967, when 78 centimetres of snow fell (in Fredericton)."
Phillips said it would be wrong to think that Fredericton won't be hit again.
"About 32 per cent of your annual snowfall occurs after Feb. 22. You have shovelled about two-thirds of it on average, but you still have a third to go."
District 2 RCMP and Fredericton police were advising people Monday to only venture on the roads if it were necessary. No major accidents was reported.
Dillon Gamble, manager of Fredericton's roads, said extreme conditions challenged plow crews throughout the day Monday.
"Everything earlier this morning was just blowing in behind us," Gamble said. "Until about 11 o'clock, we really weren't making a lot of progress."
Most streets should be close to normal by the end of today, he said.
Gamble said it could be Friday before all sidewalks are opened. People or companies plugging sidewalks with snow slow the process even more, he added.
Motorists and pedestrians are urged to be cautious and be on the watch for each other.
Whiteout conditions were reported on the highway between Fredericton and Moncton.
Department of Transportation spokesman Andrew Holland said crews in York, Sunbury, Queens and Carleton counties also had their hands full Monday with heavy snow and reduced visibility.
"It was blizzard-like conditions with the strong winds, and you couldn't see a thing," Holland said.
One of the plows had to stop to help an ambulance on Route 10 in Noonan. No patients, however, were onboard.
"Things are progressing," he said late Monday. "But it's been a challenging day for everybody. This is going to be, at least, a two-day snow-clearing event."
NB Power spokeswoman Heather MacLean said the utility experienced about 2,000 storm-related outages - mostly at around 10 a.m. Monday.
The power losses occurred primarily in the Fredericton area, as well as in St. Stephen and Cap Pele. About all of them were repaired by early evening.
MacLean said NB Power crews, once everything is stable in this province, will be heading to Maine where 170,000 customers have been impacted by power outages.
Nothing was moving in or out of the Fredericton International Airport until noon Monday, but arrivals and departures were slowly returning to normal in the afternoon and Monday night.
In Fredericton, most municipal operations shut down for the day, but Monday's city council meeting proceeded as scheduled.
Malls, along with many stores were closed, and at least one funeral was delayed until today.
Fredericton Transit didn't operate Monday, while all city arenas, the Fredericton Indoor Pool and programs at school gyms were also closed.
Families expecting garbage and recycling pickup Monday will have to wait as those services were also cancelled.
Scheduled garbage and recycling collection was put off until next week.
Meanwhile, Mayor Brad Woodside issued a plea for patience and a call for parents to keep a watchful eye on youngsters drawn to play in huge mounds of snow piled up around the region.
"The banks are extremely high and each year we have children who are playing at the end of driveways on these banks. I just want the public to know this is a very dangerous situation, especially for young ones who build forts," Woodside said.
City plows will be working this week to push back snowbanks and to widen streets, which are barely two lanes in spots downtown.
The mayor said given the magnitude of the storm, it will take time for city crews to move the accumulation. The city doesn't plow round-the-clock and snow-removal personnel have to have proper rest breaks before resuming their work.
The Fredericton Fire Department is reminding citizens to ensure fire hydrants are shovelled out.
With files from The Daily Gleaner reporter Heather McLaughlin
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$17-$18. Like it makes a difference what thier wage is.
I don't know anyone who makes $20/hour that is Plow or other equipment operators. Doesn't matter how long you've been there, its what is in the contract. The only person who makes more would be the 2IC and the Supervisor of that snow shed.
So, do you think that $17/ hour is WORTH risking your life? Working for 16 - 18 hours straight, when you have a family at home. You can't see a thing in front of you, and your worrying if your going to make it back that night. Do you know that it is illegal for a Trucker to work past 12 hours at a time, but a PLOW operator can work 16?? Something is wrong with this picture!
I tend to think you are being a little dramatic here. Knocking a few mailboxes in the middle of the night 10 miles from home is hardly risking your neck. I cannot recall of any tragic accidents involving snowplows. A few years ago, a guy from Millville hit a train with the plow and seemed to come out of it OK. I can't really imagine a sfer vehicle to be in. Biggest danger would be from an irate person seeking revenge for a busted mailbox.