As the ‘historic’ Prairie storm in southeastern Saskatchewan begins to taper off, highways are reopening and a snowy mess has been left behind.
Areas in the corner of the province such as the town of Estevan faced a blizzard that started out being measured in centimetres, but is now better gauged in metres after wind and snow bombarded communities who are now digging out their way out.
Estevan resident Stacey Dornian and her family prepared themselves when they knew the snowstorm was heading their way.
“We made sure we had our (snow) blowers ready to go,” said Dornian “I even (brought) in a shovel into the house to make sure I could get out.”
Norm Mack, the city of Estevan’s manager of roads and drainage, said it was the worst storm he’s seen in more than 30 years and that crews will be working over Easter weekend.
“Twenty-hour hours and we’ve got 10 to 12 foot snow banks,” said Mack. “Cars were buried, we’ve got four-wheel drive trucks (and) jacked up trucks stuck all over town. So when you see that you know you’ve got a lot of snow.”
While the snow still blows in Estevan, workers are attempting to keep the streets open.
“We’re just making trails, some of the roads just have single lanes,” he said. “Some are totally blocked and we’re just trying to keep them open for emergencies.”
Until the wind stops, crews will continue their full cleanup, which they anticipate will take a while.
“Its gonna be a couple weeks for sure,” Mack said.
Several highways in the southeastern corner were shut down due to the snowstorm. They have reopened but a few are deemed as “travel not recommended” due to icy snow conditions.
Highway 1 east of Regina to the Manitoba border is shown as “travel not recommended” on the Saskatchewan Highway Hotline. However, Highway 1 from the Manitoba Border to West Junction Highway 8 is closed.