Closure of Trans-Canada forces travellers to hunker down for the night
Tom Jackson and band among those stranded as fierce storm leaves drivers looking for lodgings
The small town of Virden, Man., prepared to house dozens of people stranded due to a winter storm that is bearing down on the southern Prairies.
Hotels in the town of about 3,000 people, located approximately 270 kilometres west of Winnipeg along the Trans-Canada Highway, are booked solid as roads closed due to poor visibility and snow cover Tuesday morning.
"Right now we've been contacted by our Virden detachment that there are quite a few stranded travellers in Virden, mainly coming from the west, from Saskatchewan, not knowing that the highway is closed here in Manitoba," said Rob Cyrenne, a spokesperson for RCMP.
Just after 6 p.m. local time, RCMP opened the Trans-Canada between Portage la Prairie and Headingley but stretches of the highway further west remain closed.
There are about five kilometres of trucks backed up, said Cyrenne. The Tundra Oil and Gas Centre is being opened in Virden to accommodate the stranded travellers.
"I haven't seen such thing in 15 years [of driving] in Canada," said Mojeeb Sahar, a truck driver stuck in a line of semis stretching about five kilometres west of Virden. "I haven't seen such ice. You can see a layer of ice on the pavement."
As of Tuesday afternoon, Sahar and his cousin were still parked in his transport truck about two kilometres west of Virden, where they'd been since this morning. The pair started their trip in Calgary and were heading to Winnipeg.
They made it to Virden Tuesday morning after hitting the ditch near Wolseley, Sask., overnight. It took them five hours to get out.
"It was [a] snowbank on the street," he said. "Once we hit the snow pile it just took us off the road into the ditch."
Southern Manitoba and Saskatchewan could see up to 30 centimetres of snow by the time the system passes on Wednesday.
The Trans-Canada Highway was closed Tuesday morning between Headingley, Man., and the Saskatchewan border.
Sahar said he wasn't able to leave the load he is carrying and didn't know where he would spend the night. He and his cousin were also running low on food by early afternoon.
"All we have is a few bottles of water left," he said, along with a few candies he'd brought along for the trip.
He said this is his first month driving a transport truck. He drove limos across Alberta and Western Canada for 15 years.
"I've had to turn away a lot of people," she said. "We're totally booked up and all of the hotels along the main drag here are full."
The Town of Virden has opened Tundra Oil and Gas Place, the town's arena and community centre, for travellers and is preparing for between 40 and 60 people to stay at the complex overnight, according to Mayor Jeff McConnell.
Jackson to play impromptu show
More than 20 people had registered to stay as of 4 p.m. according to Tracy Howard, a manager at the centre. Those staying will sleep on cots in the main hall.
Among those staying at the centre are singer and actor Tom Jackson and his band. They were scheduled to play in Brandon Tuesday evening. But after getting stranded in Virden, they instead planned to play an impromptu concert in the town Tuesday night.
"We decided well if we were here and we were going to play anyway and we love to play, so we thought maybe we would share some good cheer if we set up at the evacuation centre," Jackson said.
Jackson said he has been talking to people at the evacuation centre and "there is a lot of us making new friends here in Virden."
Sahar said people should avoid travel on the highways if at all possible Tuesday evening because of the conditions. He hadn't heard when the highway might re-open, but said he'd pass the time in his truck until it does.
"I was just playing some poker and I ran out of my chips, so now we're doing some videos and watching some videos," he said.