‘It makes no sense’: Pictou County residents still trapped by weekend snowstorm

Pictou County is buried.

Mountains of snow line the streets, turning driving into a game of chance. While the snow from the weekend’s storm has finally stopped, it has left the county to deal with up to 115 centimetres of snow, according to unofficial reports.

Residents all over the county are still snowed in. Ashley Stewart is one of them.

Stewart lives on the Priestville Loop, and while she is fortunate enough to have her driveway cleared, she is still stuck at home.

Trapped inside

“There is a foot of snow on the road itself and I haven’t seen a snowplow come by yet,” said Stewart in an interview on Feb. 7.

The Priestville Loop is a small side road just off of Sherbrooke Road in New Glasgow, which has been cleared.

“We are so close to downtown New Glasgow and North Nova Education Centre and we haven’t been plowed out yet. We’re attached to a main road. It makes no sense,” Stewart explained.

Stewart has a newborn as well as a five-year-old, and if it wasn’t for her husband walking out to the main road to get a drive to the grocery store, they would have run out of formula by now.

“I’m thankful for my husband,” she said. “If I was a single mom with a newborn, I don’t know what I would have done.”

Rural citizens throughout the county remain trapped inside with six-foot snow drifts blocking the doors. Some residents have taken to social media to say they have run out of oil to heat their homes and are having to sleep in winter coats to keep warm.

Emergency Services

A large concern for citizens is what happens if there is a medical emergency. Blocked roads and snow drifts are too high for emergency services like ambulances to get through.

Chardel Daniel is the executive director of provincial operations for Emergency Health Services (EHS). He explained there are resources put in place when dealing with major events like the past weekend’s snowstorm.

“We have a virtual care team at our medical communication center that filters through all the calls we get in an effort to ensure whether an ambulance is actually needed or not,” Daniel said.

EHS works closely with federal, provincial, and municipal levels and private snow removal companies in order to get access to residences that need EHS resources.

“What you would see is essentially a snowplow driving in front of the ambulance to make sure they get access to where they need to be.”

Daniel also commented on the efforts of all parts of the snow removal teams for their efficient work over the past few days since the storm.

“Over the weekend that integration and collaboration was absolutely fantastic. Huge kudos to all levels on the snow removal side.”

Besides paramedics, Nova Scotia has a medical first responder program that has over 3,500 volunteers. Daniel said these volunteers are instrumental in responding to some the emergencies because they are able to arrive on-scene first.

State of emergency

Residents in Pictou County are questioning why the municipality hasn’t declared a state of emergency after hearing about Cape Breton Regional Municipality doing so, and then Eskasoni following soon after.

Warden Robert Parker said at this time there is nothing more to gain from declaring a municipal state of emergency.

“A state of emergency in this case would allow us to compel private operators to loan their equipment to the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Department of Public Works,” Parker said. “When we checked into it, this is already going on, the private equipment is already being loaned.”

Calling a state of emergency would also allow the municipality to tell people to stay indoors and avoid any unnecessary travel.

“Just imagine if we were telling people to stay indoors – there would be a worse uproar.”

Parker said they want people to be out on the roads getting to work, and helping each other. He added he was worried that calling a state of emergency would raise the expectations of citizens, giving the impression clean up efforts would speed up.

“A municipal state of emergency does not allow us to tell the DOT what roads to do (and) when,” he said.

Declaring a state of emergency will be a topic during the council meeting on Feb.7. Parker said if enough councillors decide that calling a state of emergency is necessary, the municipality will do so.

In a statement from the municipality, they are encouraging anyone who still needs assistance to email REMO Pictou County.

“REMO Pictou County has set up a hotline for people to call if they are experiencing a storm-related issue and need assistance as a result of the Feb. 2- Feb. 5 snowstorm. This number is 902-485-3445. People can also reach out to Pictou County REMO online at remopictoucounty.ca/contact-us/“.

Provincial intervention

Residents are also calling out Premier Tim Houston on social media, voicing concerns that he has forgotten about citizens in his own constituency.

In a phone interview, Houston assured that he’s aware of the dire situations in Pictou County and that help has been mobilized.

“We’re bringing in resources from other parts of the province, we’ve been working with the federal government to borrow snow clearing equipment, and I put a call out for any provincial employees who may be retired or off work that can help, to do so,” Houston said.

As of Feb. 7, the Department of Public Works currently has a total of 51 assets on the ground in Pictou County helping to clear snow, including 16 tandem snowplows.

Additionally, equipment has been provided from other parts of the province, including seven graders with plows. Three snowplows from the New Brunswick Department of Transportation have also been sent to help the snow clearing efforts.

“We are working extremely hard to get people dug out,” said Houston. “We understand the urgency and the fear, and there’s a lot of people working hard to get to everyone.”