WELLINGTON COUNTY – Randy McDonald and Paul VanBreda experienced firsthand the severity of the major storm that hit the area on Sunday and Monday.
The truck drivers from Rodney, Ontario were among many motorists left stranded after the blizzard forced them to abandon their stake truck on the way to Drayton on Feb. 25.
“We were following the GPS, which took us down this road, but it was snowing and blowing so hard we couldn’t see,” McDonald said of the 8th Line in Centre Wellington.
“We saw two or three vehicles stuck in the middle of the road, abandoned.”
The men flagged someone down and caught a ride into Elora, where the community centre was serving as one of two emergency warming centres in the township.
“We are glad this centre is open, because we have nowhere else to go,” said VanBreda. “If things don’t improve we’ll be looking to stay the night in Fergus.”
The men, who were eventually transferred to the Fergus sportsplex, were very thankful for the help.
“We don’t have anybody around here we could call on,” McDonald said. “It’s really cold out there.”
Wellington North also opened warming facilities at its community centres in Arthur and Mount Forest. Erin opened a warming facility at Centre 2000.
About eight people total accessed the Centre Wellington shelters, while about five warmed up at the Erin location and close to 100 took advantage of the Arthur facility on Sunday and Monday.
While the storm did not break any records for snowfall or temperatures, the combination of precipitation and high winds, with gusts approaching 100km/h, produced some of the area’s worst winter conditions in years.
Hydro One crews across the province worked hard to restore power to more than 165,000 customers. There were numerous small outages throughout Wellington County, some of which lasted upwards of 12 hours.
All school buses were obviously cancelled and all schools were closed. Due to near zero visibility, dozens of roads across the county were closed, including Highway 6 from Mount Forest to Guelph.
Closures began early Sunday evening and municipalities started to pull plows off the roads as conditions worsened.
At one point early on Monday morning, Wellington County officials announced all county roads should be considered closed.
Municipal, fire and OPP officials repeatedly reminded drivers to stay off the roads due to the treacherous conditions.
Centre Wellington
In Centre Wellington, municipal facilities and programs were shut down for the storm, and Monday’s council meeting was rescheduled to Wednesday.
Reported facility and program closures included:
– the administration office in Elora;
– Victoria Park Seniors Centre, Elora Fergus Tourism Office and Fergus Grand Theatre; and
– the infrastructure services office in Elora.
While the Fergus sportsplex and the Elora Community Centre were opened as emergency shelters, all ice, aquatic and recreation programs were cancelled.
Erin
The town municipal office and community centres were shut down for the day. The town’s essential services and road operations continued to operate.
Guelph-Eramosa
Due to weather and road conditions, the township closed its municipal office near Brucedale as well as the Royal Distributing Athletic Performance Centre in Marden. All Active 55+ fitness classes were cancelled, as was a council meeting/budget presentation (it was rescheduled for Feb. 28 at 7pm).
Mapleton, Minto
In Mapleton, the township closed its administrative office. Minto closed its administration centre and arenas.
Puslinch
Puslinch Township closed its Aberfoyle facilities, including the municipal office, the Puslinch Community Centre and the Optimist Rec Centre.
Wellington North
In Wellington North, the township office in Kenilworth was closed, and the Arthur Community Centre and Mount Forest Sports Complex operated as warming centres only.
Wellington County
For Wellington County, the day marked the closure of all county facilities, including: administration buildings, social services offices, libraries; the museum and archives, child care centres and the Green Legacy Tree Nurseries.
