The Avalon Peninsula is still in the grip of a record-breaking blizzard but the worst is behind us as the snow has ended, winds are easing and visibility is improving.
City and provincial plows are back at work after being taken out of service for a short time.
This. Is. Crazy. #StateofEmergency #nlwhiteout #snowstorm #nlweather #blizzard #Newfoundland #nlblizzard2020 #nlstorm #nltraffic @VOCMNEWS @hitsfm #Snowpocalypse2020 #Snowmageddon pic.twitter.com/eanqZGKdLo
— Samantha Foley (@SamanthaLee20) January 18, 2020
. #StateofEmergency #nlwhiteout #snowstorm #nlweather #blizzard #Newfoundland #nlblizzard2020 #nlstorm #nltraffic @VOCMNEWS @hitsfm #Snowpocalypse2020 #Snowmageddon @BrianWalshWX Clean up time!!! pic.twitter.com/2d2LDyVLvv
— Denita Broderick (@DenitaBroderick) January 18, 2020
Close to 75 cm of snow now blankets the region, relentlessly whipped around by sustained winds of well over 100 km/h for 17 consecutive hours. About 70 cm of that fell from 5 a.m. Friday until midnight, breaking the one-day snowfall record of 68.4 cm set on April 5, 2001.
Vehicles are buried and the landscape more resembles the moon than the Earth.
Roads and sidewalks have become one huge drift with cars disappearing beneath them in Gower St.#nlweather #nlblizzard2020 #nltraffic #cbcnl @VOCMNEWS @DestinationSJ @StJohnsTelegram @WoRudolph @ACAntleNL @geoffmeeker @CityofStJohns @DowntownStJohns #snowstorm pic.twitter.com/F6HNEKWyfW
— lisa Bokelmann sells (@lisasellspiano) January 18, 2020
Many roads are impassable and will remain so for quite some time as crews will have a tough enough time just trying to maintain emergency routes and main roads.
Plow operators under the provincial government responded to over 100 requests for service yesterday: 24 from ambulances, 21 from police and 60 from the public.
Residents Begin Assessing Damage
(Submitted photo.)
Residents of the eastern portion of the island are starting to assess the damage from yesterday’s record-breaking storm.
Damaging winds and significant accumulations forced most of the island to shut down yesterday, with States of Emergency still in place.
As the clean-up gets underway, another serious aspect of this weekend’s storm is the storm surge.
In Chapel’s Cove, culverts from the waterfront have washed up onto the road, with extensive damage leaving the road impassable.
There’s a garage under those windows. My two-storey drift. #nlwx #Snowmageddon2020 #yyt @VOCMNEWS pic.twitter.com/mOvfOrkeSG
— Ru Gu (@DJ_Rugu) January 18, 2020
St. John’s Unsure When State of Emergency Will be Lifted
(Photo courtesy Michael Royle.)
The mayor has no idea at this point when the state of emergency will be lifted in St. John’s. Danny Breen made the call at lunchtime Friday to help keep vehicles off the streets. Many people ventured out and became stranded.
Mayor Breen says their first priority is to keep emergency routes open.
He says it will take a significant effort just to get everything back to normal.
Flights Still Affected
Flights in and out of St. John’s are still being affected today.
A long list of cancellations remain on the St. John’s International Airport website.
Some provincial flights appear to be on time but flights to and from St. John’s are still being affected at the Deer Lake Airport and the Gander Airport.
Marine Atlantic Moves Ahead
All crossings that were scheduled for yesterday with Marine Atlantic are back on this morning.
The ferry leaving Port Aux Basques to head to North Sydney is set to depart at 11:45 this morning.
The ferry leaving North Sydney is scheduled for the same time.
