Cottage Country Struggles Under Endless Snow
Posted February 8, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
What if it started snowing one day and it simply never stopped?
Welcome to cottage country, which is truly living up to the reputation of the Great White North.
Snow squalls began there earlier this week, with as much as 5-10 centimetres of flakes falling every hour.
It’s been more on than off ever since, with as much as 30 centimetres on the ground. And there’s more on the way.
In fact, there’s so much snow, some plows have had trouble clearing it all away. And the roads are so terrible, a couple of the snow clearing vehicles have actually gone off the road.
Many of the highways have turned to ice and some drivers are heading straight into whiteouts with virtually no visibility.
The OPP has received reports of hundreds of accidents and has been forced to close some major routes. Officers are pleading with motorists to stay away from areas like Barrie, Orillia, Muskoka and even Wasaga Beach (shown, top left) until things improve.
Tired and frustrated homeowners have been fighting losing battles to clear it all off their driveways. They’re simply running out of places to put it.
Orillia has been especially hard hit. The town has received a back breaking 60-80 centimetres of snow since Saturday. That’s about 2½ feet on the old scale.
Friends are gathering to give each other a hand, which is why Bill Price and his snowplow are out on someone else’s property.
“This isn’t my driveway,” he laughs. “This is driveway number six, were all neighbours and we all help each other.”
Ruth Mackie is trying to make the best of what’s turning into a very bad situation. “It’s nice, it makes things nice and bright, happy, cheery,” she smiles. “A little bit less would be a little bit better.”
Some schools and businesses remain closed, because students and workers can’t get there.
It’s a far cry from conditions a month ago, when residents and ski resort owners were all wondering if it would ever snow this winter. It may be a classic case of ‘be careful what you wish for.’
Things are even worse to the south of us. Parts of New York State are digging out from a jaw dropping two metres of snow. At least 16 deaths have been blamed on the storm down there.
And what of Toronto and the GTA? We’re obviously putting the horseshoe into the Golden Horseshoe, because we’ve emerged from all this relatively unscathed.
The city has been dealing only with the occasional flurry and the bone chilling wind chills. But our roads are clear and there’s little to shovel.
And there’s more good news in town. Conditions are supposed to moderate a bit over the next few days, prompting the city to cancel its five-day-old Extreme Cold Weather Alert. It’s called to help the homeless through the most bitter of winter days.
Temperatures here should reach the -4C range by Friday, with lows around -11C. That’s still cold but it’s a far cry from what we’ve been through. And with apologies to our neighbours to the north, it’s supposed to stay mostly sunny – and snowless – right through the weekend.
To check the latest forecast, click here.
Sign up for a del.icio.us account here to save your bookmarks for free online.
