Intense snow squalls battering Ontario moved south Sunday after burying some parts of the province under more than a metre of snow, stranding people on roadways and prompting one town to declare a state of emergency.
Gravenhurst, a town in Ontario’s Muskoka region 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.
An impassable, snow-covered stretch of Highway 11 inundated by collisions 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. It was unclear how many people were still stranded on Sunday, though a police spokesperson suggested some had been stuck overnight.
Ontario Provincial Police extended a closure of Highway 11 on Sunday to encompass a nearly 100-kilometre stretch between Orillia and Huntsville after people became trapped the previous day.
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 coordinator 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.