Moncton residents are pulling together to confront the extraordinary amount of snow they’ve received this winter.
Though there are plenty of professional snow-removal crews who have been busy battling the snow, some residents are stepping upto help others.
High school student Breagh Wadden has put out a challenge to other students to help their community.
“We are asking high school students to clear the snow around fire hydrants,” said Wadden.
“When they are done, they are supposed to take a ribbon with their school colour on it and tie it to the marker post on top of the hydrant,” she said.
Last weekend’s snowstorm dropped more than 50 centimetres of snow on the city.
Jean-Luc Caissie responded by taking up his shovel and clearing the snow in front of his girlfriend’s business — even though his own home is a different story.
“The last couple of years hasn’t been this crazy. I gave up shovelling, I caved in and paid a tractor to come and clear our driveway,” Caissie said.
Moncton has received about 125 centimetres of snow so far in February — well above the average of 55 centimetres for that period — and the impact is apparent at the city’s main facility for receiving snow from Moncton streets.
Security guard George Russell, who works at the facility — one of two the city maintains — says the mountain of snow there just keeps growing.
“It’s about 100 feet. Close to a 10-storey building,” he said.
But it doesn’t take that much snow to pose a hazard to seniors living alone, said advocate Flora Dell.
She wants to remind seniors needing extra help they can register with the Moncton fire department, so they are not forgotten when a superstorm hits.
“They will come to take care of a situation that is endangering the life of a senior, just so that they know there is someone there, if they need help,” she said.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s David Bell
