Sarnia's highway cleanup continues

The mission to rescue stranded passengers on Highway 402 near Sarnia, Ont., has turned into a cleanup effort, as police focus on removing hundreds of vehicles left on the side of the snowy highway.

A barrage of tow trucks took over Highway 402 on Wednesday to clear away cars and trucks, after snowplows worked through the night Tuesday to provide access for emergency vehicles, said Lambton County spokesman Jim Kutyba.

On Tuesday night, Ontario Provincial Police confirmed officers had checked the 200 transport trucks and 124 cars trapped in deep snow and whiteout conditions on the highway — some since early Monday.

Police on snowmobiles and military helicopters worked together to move 237 stranded people to safety. They joined about 320 other people who had spent Monday night in one of the emergency warming centres set up.

OPP said only one person was injured during the rescue effort — a police officer. His injuries were said to be minor.

Some stranded travellers made their way home Wednesday morning when eastbound Highway 402 was opened up, but many truck drivers and motorists were waiting for their vehicles to be rescued, and Lambton and Middlesex counties are still under a "state of emergency."

Late Wednesday afternoon, about half of the truckers waiting at a warming station in Petrolia were expecting to be reunited with their rigs.

"We get these intermittent heavy snow squalls and the wind and the blowing snow and then periods of sunshine, and we try to work as best we can while the weather is in our favour and get everybody removed, but there [are] still winter challenges," OPP Sgt. David Rektor said Wednesday afternoon.

"Our goal is to get them off the highway and out of harm's way and into a safe area where people can come and get them," said Rektor

Snow squall warnings were forecast for Wednesday afternoon. Environment Canada predicted snow squalls for Strathroy and London, and forecast 15 to 20 centimetres of snow for Wednesday evening.

Clearing the way

Police said most of the secondary arteries around Sarnia-Lambton were clear by Wednesday afternoon, but that drivers should be careful as roads are still icy.

County crews worked overnight Tuesday to clear two lanes on County Rd. 22, the road that runs parallel to Highway 402.  The road, also known as London Line, is being used as a designated detour to Highway 402.

"It's been pretty cold out here," said Preferred Towing owner Gary Vandenheuvel on Wednesday. "This is the most severe storm that I’ve seen in the 25 years in this area."

Vandenheuvel has been helping emergency crews dig out since Sunday, despite almost zero-visibility conditions.

"I would expect that we have another two to three days left just to get this — the main arteries opened back up again."

Provincial review expected

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said Wednesday that the government will examine what could have been done to avoid the chaos that ensued when motorists were stranded along the highway between Sarnia and London.

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Speaking in Toronto, McGuinty said climate change means people can expect more severe weather events.

Many travellers spent more than 24 hours huddled in their vehicles as they waited for emergency crews to slog through the heavy snow on snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles. Snowplows were also forced off the road because of poor visibility.

Truck driver Mike Plumley, who was stuck in the chilly cab of his big rig, said he wants to know why border officials didn't warn him about the dangerous driving conditions when he crossed into Canada from the United States.

"[It's] frustrating not knowing what was going on," Plumley said. "They didn't say anything about it being closed. They just let me right through. When I got through, all of a sudden about three miles in, nothing but stopped traffic and people all stuck in their vehicles."

But police and municipal officials said they gave proper warning of the major winter snowstorm that left some cars almost completely buried.

People ignored warnings: police

Rektor said the OPP issued many media warnings in the early stages of the storm, advising people to stay off the highways and avoid driving.

"Even when the highway was permanently closed, we still had people moving barriers and driving past them into the no-go zone," he said.

"They don't realize the peril they put people in or the example they set for other motorists."

Strathroy Mayor Joanne Vanderheyden said what irks her are the people who flagrantly ignored the police barricades closing the highway.

"I think it's ridiculous. You're putting yourself at risk," she said "Never mind yourself, you're putting all the people trying to help other people at risk. If you don't need to be out there, stay at home."

Ripple effects

Some Ontario auto factories cancelled shifts because of the storm. Honda and GM plants in Alliston, Ingersoll and Oshawa sent workers home. Some Ford operations were also affected by the storm, but Chrysler said it was just monitoring the situation.

Effects of the emergency in Lambton County could also be seen in Windsor, where there were long lines of transport trucks making their way to the Ambassador Bridge because the route to Sarnia's Bluewater Bridge was closed Tuesday. The Bluewater Bridge reopened to Port Huron trucks headed for Canada on Wednesday afternoon, but truck traffic in Windsor remained heavier than normal.

In London, the University of Western Ontario and Fanshawe College were closed Wednesday, and exams were postponed because of heavy snow.

Parts of the area got a metre of snow last week, and a wind shift is expected to dump more snow on the region Wednesday.