For many families, the day started with the news that school buses were cancelled.
The freezing rain warning has the entire region preparing for the worst.
The message from provincial police is a simple one. Const. Roop Sandhu with the Frontenac OPP says to stay home.
“If you can avoid travelling altogether in the afternoon and the evening today, that would be the best,” Sandhu said.
Police are advising motorists to be cautious on the roads leaving extra space between vehicles and greatly reducing speeds.
Sandhu says be prepared to wait if you go off the road and need assistance.
“Blankets, some food, some water, obviously some type of lighting system or some kind of pylons, an emergency kit to put out onto your vehicle.”
Kingston’s public works operation manager Bill Linnen says the department began preparing for the freezing rain this weekend.
“We did apply anti-icing liquid last night to bridges, a lot of hills and areas where they may be susceptible to icing up.”
Crews are continuing to salt and sand as long as the freezing rain continues.
The city has a total of 29 snow plows and 15 sidewalk plows keeping streets and walkways clear.
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Kingston Hydro staff are also keeping a close eye on the storm as it progresses.
Operators monitor the electrical grid with software called a SCADA system, instantly alerting the utility provider to any issues in the grid, according to Utilities Kingston president Jim Keech.
“If you have outages, it will actually alarm here immediately.”
Keech says he doesn’t expect another event like the infamous ice storm in 1998.
He says improvements to infrastructure and an improved maintenance schedule make it unlikely.
Keech says not all improvements that better protect the electrical service are that high-tech.
“Things you know as simple as the tree trimming — that we do much more aggressively than what we used to do.”
Environment Canada’s freezing rain warning applies to most of southern Ontario and portions of Quebec.
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