It has been almost one year since the record-breaking snowstorm that forced the metro region to shut down for over a week, and the mayor of St. John’s says he’s pleased with the city’s response to the situation.
After over 90 cm of snow was dropped on the region, many municipalities on the northeast Avalon were forced to call states of emergency as the massive clean up got underway.
In St. John’s, that state of emergency lasted for eight days.
Danny Breen says Snowmageddon came on top of the 100 cm already on the ground at the time.
He believes, considering what the city was up against, the emergency response plan worked very well.
(File photo)
Breen says the city has been looking at ways to improve its response, but all-in-all he thinks everything went as well as it could have been expected.
Breen points to a more regional approach as one of the aspects that could see some improvement.
He says many commuters can pass through three or four municipalities just to get to work and a more regional approach may be required.
Dave Aker
Meanwhile neighbouring Mount Pearl is hoping it can be better prepared to accommodate staff should another major snowfall shut services down again.
Mayor of Mount Pearl, Dave Aker, says the state of emergency it was called during a shift changeover.
He says the crews coming on were able to get to the depot, but the crews getting off shift weren’t able to get home.
He says they want to make sure any stranded crew have adequate food and supplies to get them through.
Aker calls it one of the more “personal” moments he witnessed. He says it was a challenge for staff to get a bite to eat while stuck at the depot, but they persevered and they will be better prepared next time.
