2024-01-27 01:26:17
Emergency services have been busy since Thursday with episodes of icy weather, which were nevertheless less severe than anticipated on Friday in the Montreal region where snow finally arrived.
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“It’s still a busy day,” summarizes Stéphane Smith, spokesperson for Urgences-Santé.
The ambulance organization responded to 84 calls for indoor and outdoor falls on Friday at the end of the day, while Greater Montreal received 1 mm of freezing rain in the morning.
The region was thus partly spared from the 5 to 10 mm that Environment Canada had predicted.
Photo Agence QMI, JOEL LEMAY
The ice has kept the ambulance crews in suspense for two days. By Thursday, freezing rain had fallen in heavier amounts, leaving sidewalks icy.
“Thursday, we had 172 calls for interior or exterior falls. It’s an average of 100 calls per hour whereas normally we are around 40 or 50,” explains Stéphane Smith.
Not the predicted disaster
Friday morning, it was more snow that arrived in the metropolitan region, where certain places like Mascouche had received around ten centimeters by the end of the afternoon.
“Because of the northeast winds which brought cold air into the St. Lawrence Valley, the freezing rain changed to snow a little earlier than expected,” explained Michèle Fleury, meteorologist for Environment Canada .
This change created difficult conditions on the roads at times.
“There is accumulation of water and snow on the roads. Mixed together, it becomes slippery,” said Ms. Fleury.
However, the Quebec Ministry of Transport only reported “minor accidents” late Friday afternoon.
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