Storm Drops 30 Inches of Snow in 1 Day

Newfoundland's premier is seeking help from Canada's military
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jan 18, 2020 5:00 PM CST
After Record Snowfall, a Plea for Help
A resident digs out his walkway in St. John's Newfoundland on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020.   (Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press via 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, the AP reports. 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 30 inches, breaking the previous record of 27 inches on April 5, 1999. The RCMP said rescuers were looking for 26-year-old Joshua Wall, who remained missing after leaving his home in Roaches Line, a small community about 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 never seen a storm like this. "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 between 75 and 98 mph at the height of the storm. Early Saturday morning when the snowplow came to clear his street, Breen said, he could hear the vehicle but he couldn't see it due to the snow. He said he is about 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.

(More snowstorm stories.)

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