The Mayor of Bracebridge, Rick Maloney, says snow and public works crews continue to clear the way in the community.
Maloney says nearly every road in town has now been passed through at least once.
“The challenge is going to be if we get any further accumulation of snow. I see weather is looking at 10-15 cm between today and Thursday,” says Maloney. “We’re really running low on capacity for snow. Banks are very high and we don’t have the ability to wane those back or remove the snow from the cul-de-sacs like we would usually do. We’re hoping that we get a little bit of reprieve from mother nature but I have been warned that that may be a challenge for our public works crews when it comes to lack of capacity on our streets.”
In terms of power, Maloney says a lot of Bracebridge is back online.
“There is still pockets without power along [HWY 117 and 118] but crews are still out and obviously we anticipate those folks will be hooked up sooner than later,” adds Maloney.
The Bracebridge Sportsplex, Muskoka Lumber Community Centre as well as the Village Square in Vankoughnet are all open today (Monday) for anyone needing respite.
Maloney is asking everyone to make sure the blue blade 911 signs are cleared on your property, so emergency services can find you if needed. He’s also asking everyone to not travel unless absolutely needed, to leave crews the space they need to continue with the snow removal.
“The biggest challenge for some folks in our community, particularly the elderly, is the windrow of snow that ends up at the foot of your driveway,” he says. “If you see that and you’re a neighbour, please give a helping hand and help clean it out. Our public works staff is not able to go around to each house and clear them out, and in many cases, it’s a lot of snow. So, let’s pull together and help one another.”
“I wanted to give a great big shoutout to our public works staff, the Bracebridge Fire Department, Muskoka EMS, and all the staff at the Town of Bracebridge who have helped support us as we work through this,” says Maloney. “There’s been a lot of great stories about the good nature of people in our community helping out one another. I would encourage that to continue.”
