Intense Ontario snow strands vehicles, knocks out power as town calls emergency

Intense snow squalls battering Ontario are moving south after burying some central and northern parts of the province under more than a metre of snow, stranding vehicles and prompting one town to declare a state of emergency.

Gravenhurst, a town in Ontario’s Muskoka region hit with around 140 centimetres of snowfall, has declared a state of emergency in response to a prolonged highway closure and limited emergency services.

Ontario Provincial Police say crews were working to get the remaining stranded vehicles off a stretch of snow-covered Highway 11 north of Orillia and into Gravenhurst.

OPP say emergency crews helped to pull people from their cars on Saturday and bring them to the Gravenhurst Town Hall, which was powered by generators as widespread power outages hit the area.

Hydro One, the provincial utility, has reported that the number of customers without power soared to more than 60,000 as of Sunday morning.

After hammering areas further north, snow squalls off Lake Huron and Georgian Bay were forecasted to move into southwestern Ontario.

Environment Canada has warned that areas around London, the Bruce Peninsula and Collingwood could be in store for more than 30 centimetres of snow by Tuesday.

A winter weather travel advisory was also in place for a band stretching from around Kitchener to Newmarket, where the forecast suggested between five and 10 centimetres of snow could fall Sunday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 1, 2024.