Pedestrians walk on the road while navigating snowbanks in Halifax on Feb. 5. Most Nova Scotians were digging out after a historic snowfall dropped as much as 150 cm of snow in some parts of the province.Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press
Joel Denny Jr. slumped in his wheelchair, feeling sick and weak, as his auntie pushed him through the halls of the Cape Breton Regional Hospital on Monday. The 48-year-old from Eskasoni First Nation had already missed one dialysis appointment on Saturday, unable to get to the hospital after a historic dump of snow paralyzed much of the island and prompted the Cape Breton Regional Municipality to declare a local state of emergency.
“All I remember is it just going black,” said Mr. Denny, who also goes by the name Chico. “Then when I woke up everyone was working on me. They’re like, ‘Oh you’re back.’”
While hooked up to a dialysis machine on Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Denny recalled doctors telling him that he had gone into cardiac arrest. He said if it wasn’t for friends and neighbours showing up with shovels and plows to clear 1.5-metre snow drifts on his hilly driveway so he could get to the hospital, he may not be alive.
The weekend storm pummelled many parts of the province with 80 to 150 centimetres of snow. Many in northern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton were still anxiously awaiting rescue Tuesday after wet, heavy snow jammed entrances to homes, blocked roadways and collapsed roofs.
Amid growing controversy, Premier Tim Houston apologized Tuesday night for his “unfortunate comments” describing Cape Breton Regional Municipality’s request for a provincial state of emergency a “PR stunt.” “The situation across certain regions of our province is horrific,” he wrote in a statement. “I used a poor choice of words and I apologize for that.”
Mr. Houston added he wants people to know that resources are coming regardless of a state of emergency being in effect, and “every possible resource” is being put into the effort to digging people out.
But on Tuesday Laura Sweet opened the front door of her townhouse to the same snow-jammed scene of the past four days: wall to wall snow, buried vehicles and no plow in sight.
“It’s bad here,” said Ms. Sweet, 54, who has been stuck in her townhouse in the Sydney neighbourhood of Ashby since Saturday and says she’s starting to run out of food. “What if something happens to me? I’ve had three heart attacks. I’m not getting out of here.”
And still the cleanup could take days, the municipality says. The state of local emergency that was declared on Sunday in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality is set to remain in place for the rest of the week. Schools and most stores and services will remain closed while police are telling people to stay off the road unless absolutely necessary.
Plows and crews are clearing paths for travel for first responders and essential workers first, municipal councillor Earlene McMullen said. The next priority is to widen main roadways and make first passes on side roads, she added.
“It’s certainly not moving fast but it’s moving. We’re dealing with one issue at a time,” she said, adding that some of her constituents are still without power and many seniors and people with medical conditions remain trapped in their homes.
The municipality is co-ordinating a list of names and addresses of those who need help with snow clearing and the request is in for “boots on the ground” assistance from the province and federal government, she said.
Snow plows are accompanying ambulances to reach people in need of medical care, while volunteers with a search and rescue organization have been dispatched to help vulnerable people with snow removal in the regional municipality.
John Lohr, Nova Scotia’s minister responsible for emergency management, said the province needs federal help to maintain public safety.
Ottawa has said it’s providing heavy snow-clearing equipment and personnel from Cape Breton Highlands National Park to assist with clearing snow. The Canadian Coast Guard says it has helicopters on standby to help deliver supplies and evacuate people.
Federal Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan said in a statement he’s working with the province to ensure communities have enough support to recover from one of the heaviest snowfalls in Nova Scotia in 20 years. “We will be there for all communities when they need us that are affected by worsening weather events brought on by climate change,” he said.
Meanwhile, MLA Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin made an “urgent” plea for more snow removal equipment on the north shore of the province, where she says private contractors are working around the clock to clear roads. “I have health care professionals that cannot get to work. I have babies who have no formula left and cannot get out for more,” she wrote in a letter to the province’s Minister of Public Works Kim Masland. “Please send additional resources today to Malagash and Wallace area.”
Nova Scotia’s Department of Public Works said in a statement that its snow plow operators continue to work hard to clear the roads and have sent more equipment to Cape Breton, Pictou and Guysborough from New Brunswick, the federal government and other parts of the province. “There is a lot of work to do,” the provincial statement said. “We hope to have most roads open by the end of the week.”