Cleaning up after a record snowfall
Ottawa is still digging out from Monday’s record snowfall with the winter blast keeping business owners busy shovelling.
“We couldn’t be open yesterday,” said Tim Noyes-Brown, owner of Masala in the Byward Market. “You couldn’t walk on the sidewalks.”
Monday’s storm dumped nearly 48 centimetres of snow on the capital.
Crews worked around-the-clock to get streets and neighbourhoods plowed.
“It fell so quickly yesterday that they couldn’t stay on top of it, so yeah, hats off to them, they did a great job,” added Noyes-Brown.
On Monday, Mayor Jim Watson estimated the cleanup would cost as much as $5 million.
The winter blast forcing stores like Masala to close, but the ByWard Market was open for business by Tuesday morning.
“The roads are plowed and it’s kind of nice, beautiful weather,” said Jimmy Hyyteaanen, who is visiting from Vancouver Island.
While most major roads and side streets have been cleared, there are sidewalks still nearly knee deep in snow.
“We have all 575 pieces of equipment out on the streets working hard to get them cleared off and that’s our goal by the end of the evening tonight,” said Tim Tierney, city councillor for Beacon Hill-Cyrville.
In Old Ottawa South, Tiana Sproul and her neighbours decided to shovel sections themselves.
“There’s been a lot of neighbourly cheer, so it was trying to make fun out of it too,” she said.
Meanwhile, the fresh powder a chance to get out along the Rideau trail.
“We’ve been waiting for snow for a long time now, it’s great that we can finally see it,” said Sheila Niven, who was heading out for an afternoon of cross-country skiing.
“It was track-set yesterday and my neighbours told me it was in fantastic shape,” said Liz Sterling, with a pair of skis in her hand.
A weather advisory for Ottawa is calling for more snow tonight with 5 to 10 cm of snow throughout the evening.
--With files from CTV News Ottawa's Tyler Fleming.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.