Eastern Newfoundland begins digging out after heavy winter storm
High winds and blowing snow were still affecting visibility on Wednesday morning, as the tail end of a snow storm blew through parts of Newfoundland causing cancellations.
The Newfoundland and Labrador English School District made a call just before 6 a.m. to keep all schools in the metro St. John's region closed for the morning. Several schools on the Bonavista Peninsula and in central Newfoundland were either closed or slated for a delayed opening as well. Most of them stayed closed for the day, except for a handful in central Newfoundland that opened after a delay.
All flights in and out of St. John's were cancelled on Wednesday morning as well, but activity at the airport was scheduled to resume in the afternoon.
"The snow-clearing crews are working 24-7 while we clean up from this weather event," Lynnann Winsor, the deputy city manager of Public Works for the City of St. John's, said Wednesday afternoon.
"By 9:30 p.m. this evening we'll have an initial pass on all streets in St. John's and by 9:30 a.m. tomorrow morning we'll have all streets widened out."
Metrobus sent a notice saying bus routes wouldn't start on time, and later said service would begin at 10:30 a.m.
Winsor noted the 24-hour parking ban is still in effect and reminded residents to keep their vehicles off roads while crews clear and widen the streets.
Garbage collection will begin again on Thursday for areas missed Tuesday and Wednesday amid the storm. Friday's garbage collection will include the areas scheduled for Thursday and Friday's regular schedule will get moved to Saturday, she said.
Those who rely on the city's sidewalks will have to wait a few days before they're cleared. Winsor said the city's standard timeline for sidewalk clearing is four to seven days after the snowfall.
"The standard sidewalk equipment is not like the road clearing equipment. They're basically like a ride-on snow blower so it does take time and the snow can be higher than the equipment and then that will take a longer time."
About 40 centimetres had fallen as of Wednesday morning across much of the eastern and southern regions, with about 24 in Gander. Winds were still gusting hard on Wednesday morning, with peak gusts hitting between 80 to 110 km/h.
Other notable closures:
All courts in St. John's closed for the morning but planned to reopen in the afternoon.
Eastern Health breastfeeding support groups cancelled for the morning.
Mundy Pond walk-in clinic closed for the morning.
Doorways counselling is online or by phone for the day.
CNA Seal Cove campus closed for the morning with update at 11 a.m.
CNA Clarenville campus closed for the morning with update at 10:30 a.m.
CNA Placentia campus closed all day.
Association For New Canadians offices in St. John's were delayed opening until 1 p.m.
