Snowed In
We were snowed in from Sunday night right through until Wednesday in Plympton Wyoming. Regular plows could not get through so they sent a pay loader to clean out the road. It took six hours to clean 500 feet of road in front of our house!
Outdoor Fun
We lived out in Camlachie and we had lots of food and supplies in the house so we were fine being stranded at home for a few days. Two of my girls made the best of the situation and were outside enjoy the snow.
International News
Like most people in the region, we were snowed in for days. I remember a couple telling us that they were vacationing in Mexico at the time and were so surprised when they happened to look up at the TV behind the resort’s bar to see ‘Arkona, Ontario’ come up on the screen, showing footage of the storm.
Drive from the Airport
We landed at Detroit airport after a Caribbean cruise on December 12 and drove back snaking along single file until we reached the Bluewater Bridge. We thought about trying to find a place to stay in Sarnia but set out for Watford. It was a horrific drive home. High Winds, blinding snow but once we got started we just stayed in the line until we got to Nauvoo Rd and home on Confederation. Living on a farm we have tractors and snow blowers and we were able to clean out our lane and take food and bedding to the Centennial Hall to help care for the stranded motorists.
Local Media Recognized
Just doing our job. I am very proud of my team of Sarnia-Lambton broadcast journalists for meeting the challenges presented by this extreme weather event. Knowing that our voices assisted authorities and those stranded was indeed very rewarding.
Helping Those in Need
My husband, Jason, was a firefighter with the Wyoming Fire Department at that time. I will always be proud of the job that the entire department did to ensure every person they could reach was helped. As a paramedic, Jason best served by doing triage and providing medical help at the fair building for the stranded motorists since it was almost impossible for Lambton EMS to get to Wyoming. Many of these people were without their medications and as time went by it became more and more imperative that they get those meds. Jason worked with Marley Pharmacy to get these folks their medications. He came back home for a change of clothes a couple of days later and was gone again. Every firefighter helped in some way and played an extremely important role during Snowmageddon.
Students Rise to the Challenge
I was a paramedic student doing my practical consolidation in Strathroy. We did calls from Strathroy into Watford and there was lots of chaos on the roads.
Snowmageddon Decades Earlier
I recall a similar Snowmageddon in the late 60’s early 1970’s on Highway 22 east of Highway 21 where we were stuck on the two lane road for 26 hours. While we were hauling 4 loads of cattle from the Paris Ont area to Laredo Mexico, a steel truck went in the ditch load of coils upset they came unwound out thru a farmers field. Cars were all over the road and in the ditches everywhere. One of our trucks managed to get off on a side road to a farmers barn and off load his cattle while the other three loads of cattle we sat in the middle of the road for 26 hours until traffic was moving again. There was a roadside gas bar and cafe on the south side of the road selling cheese sandwiches for $ 7.00 each until they run out of cheese slices. After we got west of Highway 21 you would never know it had snowed.
Family Fun in the Snow
Me my hubby we stuck at home in Thedford with our three sons and had some good old winter fun.
Unforgettable Vacation
We returned from a Caribbean vacation in the early evening of Dec.12th. When we landed at Pearson Airport it was beautiful -clear and crisp. We had heard on the plane that a severe winter storm was heading into southern Ontario but there were no signs of such weather. After boarding our Robert Q bus we proceeded towards London where we had left our car at the Ramada Hotel. From there the plan was to travel home to Sarnia. At Woodstock the weather got ugly and the drive on to London was treacherous. Upon arrival it took a long time to clean several feet of snow off our van and the city roads were looking totally filled with dense snow. We decided at this point to abort plans of driving to Sarnia. Fortunately we have friends in north London and they offered us to stay with them. It was a white-knuckle drive to their house where we thought we'd just be overnight. As it turned out, we were there three days before feeling safe to drive home. Along the way we saw the havoc wreaked upon the road - abandoned cars and transport trucks everywhere. It was definitely a "vacation" we'll never forget.
Helping "Beppe"
In Wyoming we bundled up blankets pillows and TV sets and my kids walked them over to Wyoming fair grounds. We lived just around the corner. We also called the boys 'BEPPE" (GRANDMA) and went to dig her out, snow was piled up above her door and she could not get out of the house. We brought a few groceries to get her thru a few days. It was a horrible storm but an excellent learning opportunity on reaching out to others in greater need.
A Community Coming Together
We knew things outside our Garfield home in Petrolia were bad, but we really had no initial understanding of the immensity of the storm until the snow had finally stopped. Dan had been out numerous times trying to clear our driveway. He'd run out of space to pile the snow along the sides of the drive so created a snow path along the side of the house. In the light of day this looked like a mountain range. We'd been asked to stay in but we'd also heard of the numerous people who were now "housed" at the Community Centre. Donations of store-bought food, bathing suits and phone chargers were being requested so I rooted through closets, visited Tim Horton's and headed for Tank Street. I honestly could not believe my eyes. Our mountain of snow paled in comparison to others along my route. When I arrived at the Community Centre I was greeted warmly by volunteers trying to keep things in order. I thought the Tim Horton's bag would be the first to go but, before I could blink, there were several truckers who descended on the phone chargers. That's when I started to truly understand the magnitude of the storm.
#79 Highway, Alvinston
Couple pics on #79 HWY near Alvinston the morning after. Spent all night trying to get around the road closures so I could get home.
Hosting CBC from Toronto
A CBC TV crew from Toronto spent a day at our house after their van became stuck in a snow bank in front of our house. We live on Nauvoo Road near the 402. The 402 was closed at Nauvoo and they decided to head toward Watford and didn’t make it. We fed them and they napped on our couch. Then they did their news report live from our laneway. We watched it on TV and through the window at the same time.
Home at Mom's
I lived in Wyoming at my mom's then. We were stuck there as you could not get out of the town, we just stayed home, took awhile to dig out.
The Sound of Helicopters
We were living in Wyoming right on Broadway at the time. Even with our 4- wheel drive truck, my hubby still couldn't get to work. He couldn't even get out of our driveway. By the time he cleared it all out the snow was piled as tall as he was! The usual busy highway #21 was quiet, the only vehicles to drive down the snow blasted road were snowmobiles. Overhead the whirls of helicopters could be heard all day long, going back and forth, transporting stranded people to the Legion Hall and elsewhere.
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