The one-year anniversary of Snowmageddon is just a couple of days away—and looking back, the Mayor of St. John’s says a lot has been learned.
On January 17, 2020 a record-breaking snowstorm forced the metro region to shut down for eight days after over 90 cm of snow was dropped on the region, on top of the more than 100 cm already on the ground at the time.
Mayor Danny Breen called the State of Emergency at 11:00 a.m.; by noon, the city was shut down. The extreme weather event cost the city a whopping $7-million.
Breen says one of the things Snowmageddon reminded us of is access to services—as those who already have difficulty in accessing services were impacted significantly.
The second, he says, is food security. Breen believes the event revealed vulnerabilities in our food supply. He says no one ever anticipated an eight-day State of Emergency after not having one in 34 years.
He says the situation was difficult and challenging with pressure from different sectors mounting, but they had to keep the safety of the people at top of mind.
(Crowds gather to restock on supplies during a reprieve in the State of Emergency on January 21, 2020. Photo by Earl Noble.)
As for progress made on issues like food security since Snowmageddon, Breen says the province and many community groups have been working on it and continue to do so.
Most of our food comes in by boat, and Breen says it showed that keeping those routes open is so important to maintaining food supply right across the province.
He explains that even during the COVID-19 pandemic, people got more into gardening and growing their own vegetables. He believes those changes will continue to evolve, and now there is more focus and understanding of how vulnerable the province is in that area.
