Calgary recovering from blast of winter

CALGARY (660 NEWS) – Operations are winding down at Calgary’s Emergency Management Centre, a day after it was opened to deal with a record October snowfall.

CEMA Chief Tom Sampson said the snow has tapered off and the temperatures will be warming up, however, that could present new challenges of possible flooding.

“As you start to move snow away from your home, think about keeping your downspouts out and moving the snow away from your foundations,” he said. The city’s roads department is making sure catch basins are clear in anticipation of the melt.

“If you could help us with clearing those storm drains–we know that when we move through weekend we’re going to have some melting going on and certainly are trying to prevent the overland flooding.”

The City has called in reinforcements from other areas not dealing with snow, like Edmonton. The provincial capital has lent a hand in the clean up, on Calgary’s dime. Some took the opportunity to play on the cities’ rivalry and don the garb of a certain sports team.

Sampson said accepting help from Edmonton is not a sign of failure on Calgary’s part, it’s about being able to mount a response.

Roadways

In Calgary roads are quickly improving as crews plough, salt, and sand the main routes, but there is still a city-wide parking ban in effect and could last for the next 72 hours.

The routes are marked with a blue sign and a white snowflake, but if you’re not sure, you can always double check if your street is under a ban by checking the city’s website. 

Between when the snow began to fall Monday night to 8:00 a.m. Wednesday, there were 320 non-injury, 25 injury crashes in the city.

West of Calgary, hundreds of people were stranded for up to 13 hours on the Trans-Canada Highway. Police escorted stranded motorists to a warming centre at a high school in Canmore, just outside Banff National Park, early Wednesday morning.

By mid-day, the Trans-Canada and secondary Highway 1A west of Calgary had reopened, but traffic was still backed up and travel was not recommended.

Rosemary Thompson, vice-president at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, landed at the Calgary Airport from Toronto on Tuesday in the thick of the snowstorm.

As she got on a shuttle bus to Banff, she asked the driver whether he had enough gas. He told her they’d be fine for two days. A drive that normally takes 1 1/2 hours lasted seven.

“It was terrible. It was epic,” Thompson said.

She and the 30 or so other passengers passed the time chatting. She told one visitor from the United Kingdom, who was hoping to see some fall colours, that he’d enjoy Christmas instead.

She said the driver handled everything like a pro.

“He was the picture of calm and cool all the way through this and he was watching his iPad for the 511 emergency information online and he was able to tell us what he thought was going on,” she said. “I really give him a lot of credit because he really set the tone on the bus and everybody got through.”

Thompson said she saw several vehicles trying to pass along the shoulder but ended up in the ditch. The whole time, she only saw one RCMP vehicle, she said.

Wednesday was a much better day, she said.

“It’s the perfect winter day in Banff, couldn’t be more beautiful.”

Parking ban

A snow route parking ban is in effect. It can last for up to 72 hours.

You’re being asked to remove your vehicle from priority routes —- marked with blue and white signs — so they can be adequately cleared.

Vehicles that remain parked on a snow route during the ban can be ticketed and towed.

Calgary Transit

As many as 80 buses got stuck in the snow Tuesday when the storm hit. Wednesday Calgary Transit Director Doug Morgan said things were looking better, albeit still challenging.

As for whether or not we’ll see winter tires on buses anytime soon, Morgan said they’ve done testing on effectiveness of snow tires on buses but it didn’t make sense cost wise. He said winter tires don’t have as much longevity as all seasons.

For the commute to and from work Wednesday night into Thursday, some buses are still taking detours because they can’t get up steep hills. If you’re a transit user you should double check to see if your stop has been moved here. 

Air Travel

The situation is improving at Calgary’s airport, as it recovers from the record storm. Only a handful of arriving and departing flights have been cancelled today, compared to well over 50 Tuesday.

Air Canada said its ground crews were struggling to keep up with the number of planes that needed to be deiced.

The airport has added pieces of equipment to keep runways clear.

-with files from the Canadian Press