NLSchools says all schools in the St. John’s metro region will remain closed on Tuesday to allow for snow cleanup.
Meanwhile, the City of St. John’s is asking residents to stay off the roads as much as possible while plows attempt to clean up the latest dumping of snow. More than 100 cm of snow fell in the area in less than a week.
A statement from the city on Sunday evening said it is not considering declaring a state of emergency, as they believe asking residents to stay off the road will provide enough relief for snow-clearing efforts.
The city also cancelled Monday’s garbage collection, and is keeping the on-street parking ban for cars outside the downtown area.
“If you don’t have to go somewhere, please stay at home. But if you have to go out, be very careful,” St. John’s Mayor Danny Breen told CBC Radio’s The St. John’s Morning Show on Monday.
This comes after a flurry of posts on social media comparing the recent storms to the one known as Snowmageddon in 2020. That storm dropped 76 cm of snow on St. John’s, and 93 cm in neighbouring Mount Pearl and Paradise.
The past week’s snowfall has resulted in a whopping 144.8 cm in Paradise, and more than 100 cm in St. John’s, according to weather observers Lloyd Leaman and Kelly Butt.
But Breen said the conditions are different this time around, and a state of emergency is not needed. Snowmageddon hit in one fell swoop, while the latest storms have happened over the span of nearly a week. The 2020 storm was also paired with sustained high winds for days on end, packing the snow in and keeping plows off the roads at times.
“It’s not based on the amount of snow we get, it’s based on the conditions and the circumstances you’re in at the time,” Breen said.
The mayor advised the best thing people can do now is keep their cars off the streets as much as possible so crews can go to work widening roads.
Speaking at a media availability later Monday afternoon, Breen said the city made “great progress” in cleaning up and most streets are now open, but work remains to widen roads, improve sightlines at intersections and clear sidewalks.
The city has a snow storage facility at Robin Hood Bay and Breen said the city has applied for a permit from the federal government to dump snow in St. John’s harbour.
Breen said it will enable the city to move more snow faster if it’s in the harbour and not being transported to the facility in the east end.
“So just [it’s] more efficient if we can take the snow, particularly in the downtown area to the harbour,” he told reporters.
Deputy city manager for public works Lynnann Winsor said snow removal will start Monday night and go into Tuesday.
“What will be the challenges will be the volume of snow that we have there,” she said.
In a typical winter, snow can be blown onto people’s lawns, but there is no more room now, Winsor said.
“It seems like we’re in for a well above average winter and we’re certainly doing all we can to stay on top of it,” she said.
St. John’s closed all of its public facilities Monday, hoping to alleviate some pressure. Metrobus also announced at noon that it will keep its buses off the road all day.
‘We can’t get out’
In the meantime, some people find themselves fully barricaded by the snow.
Tausif Khan was one of the many St. John’s residents who took to social media to show off their doorways on Monday. Khan and his wife have been stuck in their apartment with a flu since Saturday, unable to shovel.
“We can’t get out,” he said. ” We’re pretty much stuck inside, and this time my body gave up.”
He told CBC News he usually does his own snow clearing, but felt the need to ask for help on Monday. Khan appealed to his neighbours online, offering to pay someone to dig out the entryway.
“What if an emergency happens … and maybe the first responders can’t get to us?” he said.
Comments soon started to flood his post. One man told him that he’ll be on his way to help.
Khan is another voice in the chorus claiming this weekend’s storm feels worse than Snowmageddon. He’s grateful his community is stepping up to help in a similar fashion to the 2020 event.
Monitoring the situation
In hard-hit Paradise, Mayor Patrick Martin is urging people to stay at home. He said a state of emergency is not on the table right now.
“To be quite honest at this time, we don’t feel that’s needed,” Martin said. “Council is continuing to monitor the situation at this time…. Crews just need more time to get to the cleanup. A little bit longer than normal.”
Martin said town crews spent Sunday trying to keep main roads clear, and attention is now being turned to clearing side roads and eventually opening up all routes. As of Monday morning, he had no timeline for when that work could be complete.
Provincial government offices in the metro region are closed for the day, except for the employees who have been notified to come into work.
The law courts in St. John’s are closed for the day.
Schools were already closed across the province for winter break, with classes scheduled to resume on Tuesday.
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