Saint John wound up with 26 centimeters of snow from this weekend's storm.
A miserable combination of blowing snow and gale force winds battered the Saint John region Saturdaybut the situation was made worse by a water main break on Rothesay Avenue by Staples which cut off water to half of the city and prevented officials in charge of responding to the storm being able to communicate online both internally and externally for awhile.
It was decided to partially activate the city's emergency measures plan but Fire Chief Kevin Clifford tells CHSJ News the response to the storm was made alot easier by drivers staying at home and off the roads, in part, because of all the talk of how bad the storm would be as well as people planning ahead.
That water main break also prompting the city to issue a boil water order for everyone east of Reversing Falls to Russell Street. It will be in effect at least until sometime on Tuesday but might last longer. We'll be hearing more on that today from District Medical Health Officer Dr. Scott Giffin.
An overnight snow parking ban has been declared for the South/Central Peninsula effective 11pm this evening through to 7am tomorrow morning. This means there is no on-street parking allowed anywhere in the South/Central Peninsula area. Any vehicles remaining on-street after 11 pm when a snow ban has been declared WILL BE TOWED at the owner's risk and expense.
Six Parking Commission snow ban parking lots have been cleared for use by on-street parking residents beginning at 6 pm tonight at:
• the corner of Princess Street and Charlotte Street
• King Street East
• Peters Street
• Carmarthen Street/Vineyard Church and
• Mecklenburg Street at Wentworth Street
• the corner of Charlotte and Queen Streets at Key Industries (entrance on Queen Street)
Vehicles must be removed from all snow ban parking lots by 7 am Monday through Friday and by noon on weekends. Vehicles remaining in the lots after these times may be towed at the owner's risk and expense.
Brunswick Square and Market Square offer a $4.00 overnight parking rate for nights when a snow ban is declared, between 8 pm and 8 am the following morning. (After 8 am parkers will be subject to regular parking rates.)
The purpose of a Snow Ban is to allow plow crews to push snow back from all streets in the South/Central Peninsula to maintain access to all streets – especially narrow ones – by emergency and private vehicles throughout the winter.
The City of Saint John apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause.
To find out whether a temporary overnight parking ban has been declared, call the Snow Parking Ban Recorded Information Line at 658-4040. You can also check the City of Saint John website at www.saintjohn.ca.
Winter storms make life a little trickier for everyone--especially local hospitals. Michelle Thibodeau Coates of Canadian Blood Services tells CHSJ News donating blood is especially important in the days after a storm. She explains whether the need is due to cancer treatments or a car crash, the demand remains constant.
Further, it's key to cancel if it turns out you can't make it to your appointment to donate.
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Thibodeau-Coates says if you've never donated blood the days after a major weather event are a great time to do that. To donate, click here
As if the gale force winds and blowing snow weren't bad enough, there was a major water main break on Rothesay Avenue by Staples which cut off water to the core of the city.
Fire Chief Kevin Clifford says there was a partial activation of the emergency plan when the water main break also severed online communications from the city. He says all the factors combined were unique, differentiating this weather event from your run-of-the-mill winter storm.
The city also issuing a boil water order for everyone from Reversing Falls east to Russell because of the water main break.
The Saint John Board of Trade is throwing its support behind exploration of oil and natural gas deposits in the province.
Spokesman Patrick Beamish tells CHSJ News even though all the environmental impacts have not been fully examined, we should still move ahead and see exactly what kind of energy resources New Brunswick is sitting on.
Former Premier Frank McKenna will be speaking at a Board of Trade luncheon on Monday on potential shale gas development as well as the possibility of an West-East oil pipeline.
Protestors will gather on the sidewalk outside the Delta hotel to demonstrate against such development.
A water main break, high winds and blowing snow made life difficult for some yesterday---but isn't severe weather simply part of living in the Great White North? We asked our listeners whether Nemo was mostly hype or whether it was actually "snowmageddeon."
Tammy says it was nothing compared to everyday winter, and with all the panic going on south of us, we are taking this too seriously.
But Vanesssa says she actually had a few trees fall down: one landed on her garage and one took the power line down.
Rebecca agrees that "safer than sorry" is always best.
But Kyle points out says when it finally hit, it was just lots of wind and snow drifts. He thinks people should stop believing the Weather Network so much.
Got an opinion? Join that conversation on Facebook or Twitter.
