Newfoundland asks for military help after record blizzard

A resident digs out his walkway in St. John's Newfoundland on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020. The state of emergency ordered by the City of St. John's is still in place, leaving businesses closed and vehicles off the roads in the aftermath of the major winter storm that hit the Newfoundland and Labrador capital. (Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press via AP)

ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland (AP) - Newfoundland's premier asked for the Canadian military's help Saturday as residents of the province's capital struggled to tunnel out from homes buried by the heaviest snowfall ever recorded in St. John's.

Premier Dwight Ball said he had asked for the federal government's assistance, including mobilizing the armed forces, after the blizzard battered eastern Newfoundland.

Rob Carroll, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said St. John's had experienced a one-day snowfall of 76.2 centimeters (30 inches), breaking the previous record of 68.4 centimeters (27 inches) on April 5, 1999.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Bay Roberts, Newfoundland, said search teams were looking for 26-year-old Joshua Wall, who remained missing after leaving his home in Roaches Line, a small community about 70 kilometers (44 miles) west of the capital, to walk to a friend's home.

St. John's Mayor Danny Breen said he has lived in the city most of his life and has never seen a storm of this magnitude.

"I've never seen the combination of the amount of snow, the rate of snowfall and the wind speed that we've had here over the past couple of days," Breen said.

Winds at the St. John's International Airport were recorded at between 120 and 157 kph (75 and 98 mph) at the height of the storm.

The streets were quiet St. John‚ Newfoundland on Friday, Jan. 17, 2020, as a major winter storm brought the city to a standstill. The city has declared a state of emergency, ordering businesses closed and vehicles off the roads as blizzard conditions descend on the Newfoundland and Labrador capital. (Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press via AP)

A residents makes their way through the snow in St. John's, Newfoundland on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020. The state of emergency ordered by the City of St. John's is still in place, leaving businesses closed and vehicles off the roads in the aftermath of the major winter storm that hit the Newfoundland and Labrador capital. (Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press via AP)

Early Saturday morning when the snowplow came to clear his street, Breen said, he could hear the vehicle but he couldn't see it because there was so much snow.

He said he is about 178 centimeters tall (5-foot-8), and "the snow in front of my front step is over my head. I can't see either one of my cars in the driveway."

Intense snowfall brought St. John's and many other communities to a standstill Friday, then slowed overnight and ended in the capital Saturday morning.

Minister of Natural Resources Seamus O'Regan said the federal government was already working to deploy all available resources on the ground. He said the federal government was still working out exactly how the military would be able to help the city

The City of St. John's and several nearby communities declared states of emergency late Friday morning that remained in effect, Breen couldn't say when officials might lift the state of emergency order, which required businesses to close and all non-emergency vehicles to stay off streets.

"The roads are impassable and that's it, there's nothing that can be done," Andrew Piercey, a dispatcher with Jiffy Cabs in St. John's, said at midday.

He described an exhausting walk through snowdrifts to get to work, spending more than an hour to travel about a mile. When he got to work, he realized there were no taxis to dispatch.

"I've done some stupid things, but that was the dumbest thing I've ever done in my life," he said.

Residents make their way in St. John's Newfoundland on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020. The state of emergency ordered by the City of St. John's is still in place, leaving businesses closed and vehicles off the roads in the aftermath of the major winter storm that hit the Newfoundland and Labrador capital. (Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press via AP)

Widespread power outages were reported. Newfoundland Power said during the night that its crews were working to restore electricity for about 21,000 customers.

At the peak of the storm, which some people described as being like a blizzard in a hurricane, even snowplows were pulled off roads as zero-visibility dropped to near zero. Plowing resumed in St. John's overnight.

Christina Smith, 60, a St. John's, resident, described the snow piled ``up to your neck,'' in some areas, as the musician and her husband attempted to clear passages to their home in the Outer Battery area.

Her neighborhood was hit by an avalanche at the height of the storm on Friday night. Residents were able to escape without injury.

St. John's Fire Chief Sherry Colford said that considering the amount of snow that fell and the intensity of the winds, damage in the city had been minimal.