Crews with the Township of Oro-Medonte are among the many municipal workers within Simcoe County bracing and preparing its municipality for another large snowstorm expected to hit the region.
Barrie and surrounding areas, including Oro-Medonte, are under an snow squall warning from Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) as of Thursday afternoon, which expects 30 to 50 centimetres, with "higher amounts in excess of 75 cm possible in the most persistent lake effect snow bands."
The Township of Essa declared an Extreme Weather Event, which means it can temporarily adjust service levels where required, and change the way it deploys resources to address rapidly changing weather and road conditions.
While Oro-Medonte has not followed suit with its own such declaration, that township is still pushing to properly prepare in a similar way, especially considering how hard it was hit by a recent spring ice storm.
"Operations crews are currently monitoring and maintaining Township roads in Oro-Medonte in accordance with the Township’s Winter Operations Plan" a spokesperson for the Township said in an email to Barrie 360. "Staff are ensuring sand and salt materials are sufficiently stocked and in the event of a snowfall/winter storm, equipment (snowplows, salters, sanders) is ready, and operations crews are scheduled and prepared to respond."
Staff from the Township's operations department have been working relentlessly throughout the day to train and plan, so much so that none were able to be reached for comment.
Much like the City of Barrie's operations in which plows work on a tiered system to clear main thoroughfares before moving to smaller, more residential streets; Oro's will focus on tackling more popular areas first.
"Operations division staff are actively monitoring radar and storm modelling. In the event of significant snowfall/weather, the Township will focus on clearing primary roads at the onset, and then move attention to secondary roads in Oro-Medonte. Roads are regularly patrolled to ensure safety of the Oro-Medonte community."
There are also ways that residents can help the community before, during, and after the storm, much of which involves how they use and place their vehicles.
"In the event of a weather event, the Township reminds residents to please refrain from leaving/parking vehicles on roads, limit unnecessary travel, refrain from passing snowplows, and give snowplow operators lots of room to work," the Township says, echoing recommendations from ECCC.
The highest snowfall amounts are expected from near Wasaga Beach to Angus, with the storm extending through Thursday night.
Barrie's weather data, which is measured from Lake Simcoe Regional Airport in Oro-Medonte, forecasts flurries and snow each day for the next week
