Winter weather brings wild road conditions
Posted January 21, 2012 10:07 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
SQUAMISH (NEWS1130) – Our delayed winter weather has wreaked havoc on Lower Mainland roads all week.
There were several accidents along the Sea to Sky Highway early this morning, including a multi-car pile-up near Furry Creek. Many drivers called the conditions “like driving on an ice rink.”
Drivers were bumper to bumper for several hours thanks to an extended stoppage for northbound traffic between Lions Bay and Furry Creek.
Chilliwack looks back
People living in the Fraser Valley are saying a big “phew” today. It looks as though the week that brought extremely treacherous conditions, is finally over.
“I grew up in Chilliwack. I was a little girl here. I can remember one snow storm like this, but I don’t have much of a recollection of it being like this in any other year,” says Chilliwack Mayor Sharon Gaetz.
Not only did the blowing snow present transportation problems, it taxed the city’s $900,000 snow-removal budget. “For every 12-hour shift, it costs $27,000. Mama mayor is counting pennies!”
She says flood concerns are now emerging. “What we’re really hoping will happen now is that we will have a gradual warming and everything will be able to melt. It gets a little more precarious if we get rain.”
Lynn Orstad, an emergency planner with the Fraser Valley Regional District, says flooding won’t be as bad as it has been in the recent past, given there is rain in the forecast.
“I do not anticipate, and neither to the other emergency coordinators in the various municipalities, the type of flooding we saw in 2009,” she notes. For one, the forecast this coming week doesn’t call for that much rain.
“In 2009, over two to three days, we had over 220 millimetres or rain; a huge amount of rain that just fell.” People can prevent flooding by clearing storm grates in front of their homes, and clearing debris in small creeks.
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