PRESS RELEASE - City Assists As Brutal Winter Takes Toll on Pipes

For may home and business owners, this has been a winter of discontent as they've dealt with burst and frozen pipes thanks to the record low temperatures. As we head out the other side of of the season, it seems that the situation is dire for nearly 150 households that have no access to water, and there's an emergency bit of construction that has to be performed downtown tomorrow. So it's not over yet! Winter that is. The City of Guelph wants to put you notice that even though its March, we still have a long way to go.

PRESS RELEASE - City Plows to the Rescue After Storm

Not from a current winter. Courtesy of the Mercury.

How are you coping with our first official snow day of the winter? Well, the City of Guelph wants you to know that it's coping okay and that city plows are out, in force, to keep the city going in the midst of the bitter cold and the foot of snow we received here in the Royal City overnight.

City Reminds You: Safety First During Winter Weather

A lot of people claim to have had enough of winter, as if the weather was some conscious thing that thinks we deserve payback for enjoying warmer, sunnier days during the rest of the year. However, winter doesn't have a "wrath," no matter how much you might think winter is punishing you. (And by the way, what it winter punishing you for?) Still, it would be inaccurate to say that winter doesn't come with some extra work, and the city's sent out a couple of reminders to that fact.

Press Release - Seriously, Just Stay Home

You know what folks, the mall will still be there tomorrow. The storm system that passed through our area last night and this morning has left a terrible mess in its wake from downed power lines to fallen trees and icy roads. If you haven't been out yet, the City of Guelph is advising people that there's no need to go out now.  The best course of action is to stay at home, and enjoy a snow day (as it were) till emergency services and Guelph Hydro can get the place sorted out. 

So far it seems like the biggest concern is the trees and power lines. Unlike Toronto, which reportedly once had half a million people without power, Guelph's power problems seem localized to a  few places right now, particularly around the Hanlon between Stone Rd and College St and in the Ward. If you do need to go out, take care and take extra time as needed. Guelph Transit is running, but there are delays, and from what I've heard some buses have some difficulties taking more hilly portions of town, so be aware of delays on that end too.

Beware of Ice

That warning has probably come a little too late for those of you who have already ventured out into today's winter storm. Rest assured though that our local first responders are on the case, and that our civil servants in city hall are keeping an eye on the situation too. 

Weather Warnings

Here we go again. Winter weather is again threatening the serenity of our fair city, and City Hall's sent out a couple of warnings and advisories. Read all about it after the jump...

Snow Joke! Transit on Modified Service

guelphmercury.com

Now this is a snow day! Been a while since we've seen one of these. Probably why Guelph Transit is on modified service this morning.

Here's the release from Guelph Transit.

Guelph Transit is running base conventional service (routes 1 to 16, and 20) as well as north and south community buses.The University Express routes are not running today as the University of Guelph is closed.

Limited mobility services will be provided today, for medical appointments only. Discretionary trips will be rescheduled.

Delays are expected due to severe winter weather. Please plan your trip accordingly and give yourself extra time to travel to your destination.

Check back regularly for updates.

The University of Guelph is indeed closed, which is a rare occurance indeed. People joke about hell freezing over, when I was a student, we'd sub Hell for the U of G. But for Tranist updates, I might suggest to keep you eye on Guelph Transit's Twitter feed. Otherwise, the best advice might be to stay home today, and enjoy a mug of your favourite warm beverage.

Don't Plough Me In

This sight greeted me on the way to work this morning. Nothing quite like trudging through the wind and the cold and the snow with the additional headache of having to deal with man-made obstacles.

Dry Conditions May Affect Nestle Operations

The Guelph Mercury is reporting that Nestle's bottled water operations in Aberfoyle may be stymied if drought-like conditions persist. It's been over a month now since our area has seen any significant rainfall, and Nestle and other companies with permits to take water maybe asked to cut the amounts their allowed to take out of the water shed if conditions don't change sometime soon.

Has such a thin happened before? Glad you asked. In 2007, during another irregularly dry period, Nestle was asked to cut back on their pumping rates by 20 per cent, a condition to which they complied. Nestle is allowed to pump 2,500 litres per minute from the Mill Creek sub-watershed, which represents 3.2 per cent of all water drawn by permitted users of Mill Creek water.Water levels have been dropping for the last little while, and the Grand River Conservation Authority sent out a warning to residents last week, asking them to help conserve water throughout this dry, hot weather.

The Grand River Low Water Response Team will meet on Wednesday to go over updated flow information for tributaries like the Eramosa River and Mill Creek.

Shelter from the Storm

I guess today we all know why now we're the Guelph Storm in OHL hockey. But all kidding aside, did you see that storm last night? Between the recent storms and the heat wave, one wonders how the weather this summer is going play out considering it isn't even technically summer yet.

But back to last night's storm. This morning's Police Blotter said that Guelph Police received over 60 calls concerning storm related damage through the night, and more were still coming in this morning as sunlight brought a better chance to measure the full extent of the damage. 

On her blog, Mayor Karen Farbridge offered a sampling of what City crew were dealing with out there today, and its pretty incredible. Hopefully all you people out there in blog-land have weathered the storm well, and didn't have to deal with too much of this:

• Staff have received approx. 250 storm calls as of approx. 1:00pm today.
• Staff first received calls at ~1:30am, including a report from Guelph Police Services reporting at 300m stretch of Laird Road being blocked by trees
• I can’t confirm how many city trees had been impacted city-wide, but suggest at least one tree per call on average
• I can’t confirm the number of downed trees that will require complete removal at this time, as staff hasn’t had full opportunity to assess
• The damage from this storm was worse than last Saturday’s event, and is the worst storm damage I have seen during my 4 ½ yr. tenure with the City.
• Staff are dealing with trees on houses, cars, and blocking roads and sidewalks—opening our roads was a priority as a matter of access for EMS vehicles.
• A number of hydro lines were down which precluded immediate access by Forestry staff in some instances—Hydro was required to ensure safe access.
• As of 1:00pm, we were aiming to have the last of or our residential roads opened by 3:00pm—-where closed, the local residents had an outlet; however, there was no through traffic.
• As well, staff were assessing our park/trail system for damaged/hazard trees—such trees found/reported have been cordoned-off with safety tape until such time as Forestry staff can address them, i.e., Sunny Acres, Silvercreek, John Gamble and Drummond Park. Forestry staff plan to get into the parks tomorrow, however, soft turf conditions will make for an additional challenge for our heavy equipment to remove the wood debris.
• Staff will be working into the evening and we’re planning for another 12 hour day tomorrow.
• Staff anticipate this latest storm will require 2-3 weeks to fully address the clean-up and this clean-up activity will directly impact our planned activity for forestry service requests.
• We do not provide assistance for damaged private trees, apart from those blocking roads and sidewalks and that homeowners should seek assistance from private forestry contractors who are both ISA certified and fully insured.