WATCH: A little farther north in Nanaimo, people woke up to some snow but it didn’t really start piling up until late in the morning making it a tricky day to travel around the Harbour City as well. Kendall Hanson reports.
The collisions started happening almost as soon as the snow started falling in Nanaimo this morning.
The driver of a pickup truck lost control on Raines Road, spinning out of control and nearly ending up in the Nanaimo River.
First responders say the roads are treacherous.
“I guess we’ll see what Mother Nature has in store for us, but for now they’re slippery so we urge everyone to slow down and use some caution when driving,” said Fire Chief Percy Tipping with the North Cedar Fire Department.
As the day wore on, the snow became heavier.
One Nanaimo resident started clearing a side street close to his property.
In the past, driver’s have slid right through the stop sign at Jingle Pot Road and into his fence.
“[I’m] clearing my driveway and then clearing the road here to keep it safe,” said Earle Tenhave.
By noon, the snowfall was increasing and so were the number of accidents. One driver on Jingle Pot road ended up in a ditch. Two cars needed to be towed after colliding on Labieux Road.
“A lot of MVIs are happening right now just with that cold temperature all of a sudden so the tow trucks are running ragged and the ambulances as well so it’s keeping everybody busy,” Cpt. Mike Allard with Nanaimo Fire Rescue.
Some decided it best to start shovelling their driveways right away.
“Well it’s the first heavy snow of the year and I figure I might as well get a jumpstart on it,” said Juanita Lemarquand, a Nanaimo resident. “We’re supposed to get 15 centimetres so this is better than shovelling 15 centimetres of snow.”
This was the Inland Island Highway north of Qualicum Beach but farther north there were just a few centimetres that fell in Comox.
In Nanaimo, the storm left close to 10 centimetres of snow on the ground before finally stopping around 2 p.m. CHEK News measured the snow on the ground.
Once it stopped, it allowed those clearing roads, parking lots and sidewalks to make some serious progress before temperatures drop well below freezing.
Kendall Hanson
