Winter storm paralyzes Soo region

Sault Ste. Marie was brought to a virtual standstill Sunday by severe winter weather.

Highway 17 north of Sault Ste Marie and Highway 17 east of the Soo to Blind River were closed due to high winds.

Emergency crews were experiencing great difficulty getting to any problems in the entire area, OPP told SooToday.com.

Sault Ste Marie OPP recommended that no one leave home for any reason.

The Environment Canada radar image above shows snow conditions at 1:47 p.m. Sunday.

City buses stopped running around 6:30 a.m. because of high winds, blowing snow and zero visibility. At 2:30 p.m. the situation was reviewed by transit officials, who decided to discontinue service for the rest of Sunday.

7500 Taxi, Checker Cab and Union Cab all continued to operate, but there were reports of cabs getting stuck in some locations.

No planes were arriving or departing at Sault Ste. Marie Airport.

The international bridge linking the two Soos was open, but the I-75 was closed, so officials were advising motorists not to cross.

Road conditions

"Road conditions both in and out of the city are terrible because of the weather over the past 24 hours," the local OPP detachment said in a news release.

"Heavy rains all day Saturday quickly froze when a cold front moved into this area around supper time Saturday night. All roads are covered by a layer of ice with snow and drifting snow covering the roads.

"Some roadways have a large amount of water covering them from the excessive amount of rain that fell all day Saturday.

"Weather and road conditions are not expected to improve until the high winds die down," the OPP release said.

For Sault-area road conditions, call 945-5924.

No buses were arriving or departing from the Greyhound Bus terminal, we were advised at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Dying cattle

In Batchawana, Sault OPP remained at the scene of a cattle truck that rolled onto its side Saturday night.

"The transport was southbound on Hwy 17 in the Batchawana area in the midst of the storm last night. The truck left the roadway and entered the ditch," the OPP said.

The truck was carrying about 80 cattle.

For much of Sunday, police kept a veterinarian on standby to attend the scene as soon as it was safe to travel.

The surviving cattle would have to be transferred to another transport before the truck could be removed from the ditch, OPP said.

Weather and visibility conditions in the area inhibited the removal of the animals and the truck from the ditch. Mamaince Harbour

OPP reported that a second transport loaded with lumber also went into a ditch near Mamaince Harbour. The driver of that transport suffered minor injuries but did not require hospitalization.

Police advise that once the weather clears and the highway reopens, motorists traveling Highway 17 North can expect lengthy delays as these and other vehicles are removed from the ditches.

Mackinac

Winds in the Straits area in excess of 50 miles per hour caused a partial closure of the Mackinac Bridge. Only passenger cars, passenger vans, and empty pickup trucks were allowed to cross. Motorists were asked to drive 20 miles per hour or less.

Algoma Steel

Algoma Steel continued to operate Sunday, although numerous employees reported that they were unable to get to the plant and replacements were called in.

Few accidents in City

City police reported few storm-related accidents. "Most people took the warning and stayed home," Sgt. John Frost told SooToday News.

Forecast

Here's the latest Environment Canada forecast for Sault Ste. Marie, issued at 6:30 p.m. Sunday:

Tonight - Cloudy with flurries. Snowsqualls near Lake Superior ending overnight. Partial clearing by morning. Further accumulation 5 to 10 cm in snowsqualls. Local near-zero visibility in blowing snow. Winds northwest 50 km/h gusting to 70 km/h diminishing to 30 km/h. Low minus 12. Monday - Increasing cloudiness in the morning with periods of light snow developing in the afternoon. Winds southwest 20 km/h. High minus 4. Tuesday - A mix of sun and cloud. Low minus 5. High minus 2

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