Snowstorm wallops Maritimes as cleanup continues in Ontario

By The Canadian Press

Atlantic Canada is being walloped by two fierce snowstorms which are combining.

One storm hit southern Ontario and Quebec on Friday, leading to at least three deaths. The other is hammering the northeastern United States.

The storm didn’t take long to claim its first victim. Hamilton paramedics said an 80-year-old woman in that city collapsed while shovelling her driveway early in the morning. She was pronounced dead on the scene, they said.

The burst of snow caused numerous accidents on Ontario roads, which accounted for at least two other deaths.

Durham regional police said a 49-year-old Oshawa man was killed as a result of a multi-vehicle collision in Pickering on Friday morning.

Further east, the OPP reported a 57-year-old Ottawa man died when his car crashed in blizzard conditions along Highway 401 near Prescott, Ont.

Early Saturday morning, Toronto ended an extreme weather alert issued two days earlier.

But delays continued to plague Pearson International Airport as more than 200 flights were cancelled.

To check the status of your flight, click here for Pearson and here for Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport.

Air Canada is asking only customers with confirmed flights to head to the airport.

“Air Canada is doing everything possible to get customers to their destination as soon as possible,” Air Canada’s executive vice president Klaus Goersch said in a release Saturday.

“When airport conditions improve, we will deploy additional flights and larger aircraft if available to help get customers on their way. With the storm now impacting Atlantic Canada and the Eastern seaboard still feeling the lingering effects, it is expected that it might take several days to accommodate all passengers and we thank them for their patience.”

Forecasters are predicting 30 to 40 centimetres of snow today for parts of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and up to 30 centimetres for Prince Edward Island.

It appears Newfoundland will get off relatively lightly with up to 25 centimetres of snow by Sunday.

Forecasters say in some parts of Atlantic Canada, the snow will be whipped by winds of up to 100 kilometres an hour, cutting visibility to almost zero.

Dozens of today’s flights have been cancelled at Halifax Stanfield International Airport.

Forecasters also warn there could be some flooding along the Nova Scotia coast between Halifax and Yarmouth.

In the northeastern U.S., half a million homes and businesses are without power because of a powerful storm that has dumped up to half a metre of snow on Connecticut.

People in the Boston area are digging out of 40 centimetres of snow.

Check the full weather forecast here.

— With files from CityNews.ca staff

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today