Four snowplows couldn’t do drive
Terry Morrison has lived in New Brunswick for 40 years, so he’s used to some snow. Owning his own plow, he thought he was prepared for the record-breaking 128 centimetres that have fallen on Saint John this week. But one snowblower, four snowplows and an excavator later, and he’s still not managed to clear his driveway in the southwest end of the city. He spoke Friday to the National Post’s Haley Ritchie:
Q What’s it like in Saint John right now? How much snow do you really have?
A My back door — the door I use all the time — when I opened it, the snow was up to my head. I had to go out my front door, walk around, and shovel it all off. In the back of my yard I’m guessing it’s probably about 3 ½ -feet deep, and that’s not even drifts, that’s just the snow lying there. I have drifts that are almost as tall as me and I’m about 6-foot-2. The snow is piled like mountains. I’ve never seen it that high before.
Q So what happened when you tried to plow your driveway?
A My plow truck broke down, so I went on Kijiji and hired a plow company, and that company didn’t succeed — they broke down. They had to get another plow truck to come down and plow him out. So that got me halfway down my driveway. So I called another plow, and he could only get about 15 feet into my driveway with a larger truck. Even a mini excavator with a dump on it couldn’t handle it. I have about three acres of land, so the house is about an acre and a half off the road. It’s quite a huge driveway.
Q How much will this put you out, trying to clear your driveway?
A Well, I’m not sure yet. I’ve got $500 set aside and that’s where I’m capping it.
Q So what’s the city like? Is it shut down or are people still going to work?
A No, it’s starting to come around. I believe we’re still in a state of emergency, but I think that’s because in most of the streets there’s only enough room for one car to go on a lot
of the main roads. So that’s creating a lot of havoc. But I went to work yesterday and it seemed normal. The Tim Hortons are still full.
Q What does your daughter think of all this?
A She likes the snow but this is a little too much. She’s staying with her grandparents the last couple of days because it’s just too much for me to get her up to the road. I’ve tried with my snowblower just making a walkway. I got maybe 20 feet and had to stop. I just couldn’t go any farther. It’s so thick and compacted. It’s too heavy.
A Have you ever seen anything like this before?
Q I’ve lived here my whole life, 40 years, and I’ve never seen it this bad, no. I used to plow for a living and we always get snow. This amount of snow that we have now is not even that abnormal, but it doesn’t usually come in all at once. The problem is the second one came so quickly and so much that it just became overwhelming.
Q What’s your total now? One snowblower, four snowplows and an excavator that have tried and failed to clear that driveway?
A Yep. I’m looking for heavy equipment now and can just imagine what the cost will be. I may have to take a pick and try to bust down the snow bank at the beginning of my driveway and take it from there. My plow truck I can’t even get repaired now because it’s buried. I couldn’t get it back in the garage. Luckily I parked my truck up on the street, otherwise I’m guessing if I can’t get it cleared I may not get out of here until August.